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SKETCHES, 



HISTORICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL, 



OF 






MORE PARTICULARLY OF 



EAST FLORIDA. 



BY JAMES GRANT FORBES. 



PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY C. S. VAN WINKLE, 
No. 101 Greenwich-street, 



1821. 



. t 7 



Southern District of Nets-York, ss. 

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the fifteenth day of May, in the forty -fifth year 
of the Independence of the United States of America, C. S. Van Winkle, of the said dis- 
trict, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as 
proprietor, in the words following, to wit : 

" Sketches, Historical and Topographical, of the Floridas ; more particularly of East 
Florida. By James Grant Forbes." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An act for the 
encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the 
authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and 
also to an act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act, entitled, an act for the 
encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the 
authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned, and extend- 
ing the benefits thereof to the arts of designmg, engraving, and etching historical and 
other prints." 

G. L. THOMPSON, 

Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. 



i '- 



The town of Colinton is laid off at a place called Prospect 
Bluff, or Fort Gadsden, on the Apalachicola River, and eighteen 
miles from the Bay of the same name, on a fine level plain of 
pine land, 15 feet above the river at lozo water, and within the 
purchase made by J. Forbes ^ Co. from the Indians. The town 
lots are 60 feet wide and l'20feet deep. The water lots are 75 
feet wide, and from 160 to 300 feet deep. The swamp land, 
under the bluff is from 70 to 90 feet wide, and is sufficiently firm 
for excellent foundations for wharves at a small expense. The 
lots A, B, C, D, E, F, G, each 120 feet by 300 feet, are reserved 
for public uses. The streets are at right angles, and of the width 
laid down in the Plan. The Apalachicola and Chattahoutchie 
Rivers are navigable at all times for large Steam Boats 220 
miles m a direct line to the Falls above Fort Mitchel, and run 
through a fine fertile country, the produce of zohich must de- 
scend these Rivers by Colinton to the Ocean. 




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PREFACE. 



Since Florida has become an integral part of the 
Union, and our republic has been strengthened by this 
important acquisition, curiosity has been considerably 
excited on the subject of its situation, its soil, climate, 
and history. A desire to emigrate, and numerous other 
motives, combine to heighten this excitement ; and 
what hitherto has been but little known and regarded, 
while a neglected Province of Spain, bids fair to rise to 
eminence and fame, as a component part of the Ameri- 
can family. 

The imperfect and contradictory accounts of the 
Floridas, made it the duty of those possessing any in- 
formation on the subject, to afford their fellow citizens 
the most correct and authenticated information. Un- 
der this impression, I have ventured to publish the fol- 
lowing sketches, which have grown out of personal 
observation, and been strengthened by such facts as the 
nature of my situation, and considerable research, have 
placed within my reach. 

I offer them to the consideration of my fellow citi- 
zens with all possible deference, and as my motives are 
purely patriotic, I indulge the hope, that my imperfec- 



VI PREFACE. 

tions, as a writer, may be balanced by the utility of the 
work. 

In my researches connected with the natural and 
political history of the Provinces and their inhabitants, 
I have adopted many interesting facts of other writers. 
Bartram, Romans, and Parsh, have been of great service 
to me ; yet if their publications were not almost ob- 
solete, and their subject less analogous to the present 
times, my labours might have been dispensed with. 

The following description of the tract of land called 
" Forbes^ Purchase,'''' of which a Map is presented to. 
our readers, is from a source entitled to the fullest cre- 
dit, and is added in consequence of the emigration 
which is daily taking place. 

*' That tract of land known by the name of Forbes' 
Purchase, contains about twelve hundred thousand 
acres, and was purchased many years since by John 
Forbes & Co. from the Aborigines, with the approba- 
tion of the Spanish government, permission having been 
first obtained from the government to treat for the 
same ; and every step toward the accomplishment and 
ratification of the treaty, was taken in the presence of 
a regularly appointed Spanish agent, as well as an in- 
terpreter in the pay of the government. 

This purchase is on record in the proper office of 
Florida, as well as in that of the surveyor general, Don 
Victor Pintado; and that no doubt of, or objection to, 
its title should ever be made, should the land at any 
time be ceded either to the American or British govern- 
ment, several sales of small tracts were early made 
and recorded in the proper public offices. 



PREFACE. VU 

" This tract is said to possess much good land ; and 
those who had occasion to examine it, when it was sur- 
veyed, report it as a body of land much superior to any 
thing south of New-York, situated so near the sea 
board. 

In a tract embracing upwards of a million of acres, 
there must necessarily be a good deal of pine barren ; 
but it is thought that no tract in the southern states, of 
equal extent, can be found possessing so many advan- 
tages in point of soil, water, and situation. It contains 
the richest cane bottoms, and upland cane hammocks, 
within fifteen miles of the sea, proper for the cultiva- 
tion of sugar, the greatest profusion of oak timber of 
every description, and saw-mill seats, surrounded with 
forests that have never been touched. Streams of pure 
water run through the tract in every direction. It con- 
tains, also, beds of lime stone, and abundance of game ; 
and upon the coast may be procured the greatest abun- 
dance of oysters, and fish of every kind. 

'' Sugar can be produced here of the very best qua- 
lity ; and little doubt is entertained, that coffee can also 
be raised in large quantities. On the coast are some of 
the finest sea islands for the cultivation of cotton. 

" The Apalachicola river, which is the western boun- 
dary of this tract, is navigable for sloops of considerable 
burthen to its junction with Flint River, a distance of 
about 200 miles, and for boats of considerable size for 
450 miles from its mouth ; thus supplying any settle- 
ments which may be made upon it, with a rich and 
valuable back country to an immense extent. 

" Should a communication'hereafter be made by a ca- 
nal between St. Johns River and Apalachie Bay, which 



Vm PREFACE. 

is thought very practicable ; this country must be vast- 
ly important, and the dangerous navigation round Flo- 
rida Cape not only be avoided, but the country border- 
ing on the Gulf of Mexico, be reduced to a compara- 
tively trifling distance from the northern states. 

" The proprietors of this tract are sparing no pains 
nor expense to bring it into a proper state for the resi- 
dence and accommodation of settlers ; and a regular 
surveyor is constantly employed in surveying the lands 
and preparing them for sale. 

" Sales to a considerable extent have been made, and 
many families have already gone, and many more are 
preparing to go there from the southern states. 

" The scite of the town of Colinton, is at Prospect 
Bluff, on the Apalachicola, and embraces Fort Gads- 
den. Letters from a respectable source, dated in Feb- 
ruary, 1821, say, ^ We were there last summer for 
seven weeks, and were delighted with the soil, climate, 
and situation, and intend to take up our residence there.' 
At this place will reside, also, an agent, perhaps one of 
the proprietors, for the purpose of disposing of the pro- 
perty to settlers, and to give such information as may 
be required." 



SKETCHES 



OF 



^mia i^iL®®!i®A 



The first difficulty that presents itself, in the early stage of 
these Sketches, is to fix upon a proper period at which to 
commence the history of these provinces. I shall, therefore, 
carry this Narrative as far back as 1492, the year in which 
the new world was discovered by the enterprising Columbus. 
This event occurred on Easter day, whence the country was 
called Pasqua Florida* 

The landing of Columbus on the American continent may 
be clearly traced, on his third voyage, to Florida, as may also 
that of his speedy successor, Americus Vespucius, in 1497 
and 1498. To these adventurers must be added Sebastian 
Cabot, the son of Giovanni Gabota, or John Cabot, a native 
of Venice, who was commissioned by Henry the Seventh of 
England, one year previous to the discovery by Columbus, 
though he did not sail till some time after. There is consi- 
derable difference of opinion respecting the date when John 
Cabot, or his son Sebastian, performed the voyage ; although 
it is confidently stated that Sebastian sailed from Bristol in 

2 



I# HISTORY. 

May, 1498, with an object similar to that of Columbus, the 
discovery of a north-west passage to the East Indies ; but it 
appears that none of them did more than make a landing of 
observation on the coast. 

After having proceeded as far north as the river Santa 
Martheo, since called St. Johns, Cabot returned to England, 
for want of provisions. 

The first land discovered in these seas was by Columbus, 
in 1492, when he made St. Salvador, or Cat Island, one of 
the Bahamas. Of this circumstance these islanders are not 
a little proud; they have, accordingly, retained the name 
given to it by Columbus, as the place of his salvation, after a 
long voyage. From this place his people, on his return from 
Europe, ventured with him to Florida, being impressed, as 
were the aborigines of the island, with a belief, that the 
continent possessed waters calculated to invigorate youth, 
and to prolong old age. Policy required that this idea should 
be inculcated ; for the sterility of the Bahamas was naturally 
calculated to dampen enterprise ; and something was necessa^ 
ry to incite to farther explorements. 

Peter Martyr, highly distinguished for his commentaries 
on the Bible, and other writings, was a cotemporary of Ca- 
bot's, but not more successful. 

Fonce de Leon, a Spanish officer, inspired with similar no- 
tions, went from St. Domingo, in April, 1512, to Florida, and, 
like his predecessors, discovered the error into which his in- 
fatuation had led him. He took possession of it in the name 
of the king of Spain. 

The flattering reports of these European travellers excited 



HISTORY. 11 

a disposition in their sovereigns for transatlantic conquests. 
Thence arose claims, first to discovery, and afterwards to 
right of possession, until these points were finally settled, by 
treaty among themselves, to the entire exclusion of the abo- 
rigines, whose voice was stifled in the conflicts between the 
European powers. Their rights have been understood and 
respected only by the government of the United States, al- 
ways distinguished for its principles of liberal and enlightened 
policy toward this unfortunate race! 

In 1520, Luke Vasques sailed from St. Domingo for the 
Florida coast ; but his voyages afford nothing remarkable. 

De Verrazini, a Florentine, was sent, in 1523, by Francis 
the First of France ; and in 1524, De Geray and De Allegon 
went from Spain ; neither of whom, however, made any pro- 
gress in discovery or settlement, having only coasted. 

Paamphile de Narvaes obtained a grant from Charles the 
Fifth of all the lands from Cape Florida to the river Palmos, 
in the Gulf of Mexico. He set sail in April, 1528, with a 
considerable force, (said to be 900 men,) and arrived at Apa- 
lache ; but did not meet with more success than those that 
(preceded him, being destructively opposed by the Indians. 
He died on the coast, near the river Palmos, by shipwreck; 
only ten men returned to Spain to relate the sad catastrophe. 

In 1539, Ferdinand de Soto, governor of Cuba, explored 
the Floridas with from 8 to 900 men, in search of gold ; and 
became so celebrated for his adventures, and the discovery 
of the river Mississippi, in 1541, as to obtain from the king 
the title of Marquis of Florida. But such were the barbari- 
ties committed under this royal chief, that not only his Hfe 



12 HISTORY. 

fell a sacrifice to his temerity, but his countrymen were held 
in such abhorrence as not to be allowed a resting place in the 
country. He was put to death, in 1542 or 1543, by the Ar- 
kansa Indians, after traversing from Tampa Bay, through 
Apalache, Pensacola, and the Chickasaw country, to the Mis- 
sissippi. 

Prior to this event, (in the year 1534,) the Protestants of 
France sought an asylum in the Floridas, to escape the perse- 
cutions which grew out of the contests between the Catholics 
and Reformers : and in 1562, James Ribaud was also sent 
there by Admiral de Coligny. But the hand of persecution 
followed them, and he returned, leaving Captain Laudonier, 
with a small garrison, at Fort St. Matheo. 

In 1564, Don Pedro Menendez, was ordered by Philip the 
Second, with a considerable force, consisting of ten ships of 
the line and 10,000 men, to dislodge them. In doing which, 
the greatest barbarities were committed upon the French and 
Indians : hanging them without discrimination, and posting 
on the trees from which these unfortunates were suspended, 
this inscription, " J^ot as Frenchmen, but as heretics.'''* For 
this act of heroism, he was remunerated by a grant of all 
Florida. But these outrages were soon after met in a re- 
taliatory manner by the French, headed by Dominique de 
Gourgue, who, joined by the Indians, stormed Fort St. Ma- 
theo, and had his opponents hung, not " a la lanterne,^^ but, 
more conveniently, on the same trees that had sustained the 
dead bodies of his countrymen, bearing a like sanguinary 
placard, " J^ot as Spaniards, but as murderers.'''' Charles 
the Ninth received the petition of 900 widows on this me- 
lancholy occasion. 



HISTORY. 13 

In 1565, the Spaniards, having resolved upon the occupa- 
tion of the Floridas, persevered, became quiet possessors, and 
estabhshed the town and fort of St. Augustine, which they 
held until 1586, when Sir Francis Drake, in defiance of King 
Philip's invincible fleet, and his order prohibiting foreigners 
from entering, on pain of death, the Gulf of Mexico, laid siege 
to the fort, which he pillaged, and returned to Europe to save 
his own country, menaced by that same fleet, which had pro- 
ceeded as far as the Thames, and was said to consist of 425 sail. 

Captains Barlaw and Armada, however, in 1584, under an 
authority from Sir Walter Raleigh, took possession, in right 
of the Queen of England, of the rivers and lands adjacent to 
the northern coast of Florida. 

In 1611, the prelate St. Francisco Marroz Custodio, from 
the Convent of St. Francisco of the Havanna, together with 
those at St. Helena, Fr. Miguel de Annon, and Fr. Pedro de 
Chocas, fell martyrs by the hands of the savages. 

In 1663, the British, flushed with the intrepidity and cou- 
rage of Sir Francis, laid claim to Florida, considering it not 
only as part of the Carolinas, but as a right acquired by Henrj' 
the Seventh from the discovery of the country by Sebastian 
Cabot, which is more fully illustrated in a memorial from Dr. 
Daniel Cox to King William the Third. 

In 1665, Captain Davis, in the same spirit of buccaneering, 
plundered the town of St. Augustine. 

Wes.t Florida, or Louisiana, is said to have been discovered 
in 1663 by the French ; but as in that year France declared 
war against Spain, it is more than probable that the discovery 
of it was not made until 1679, when the King of Spain mar- 



14 HISTORY. 

ried the daughter of King Philip of France, a more auspicious 
period for the encouragement of similar voyages. 

M. De la Salle, in 1682, took formal possession of West 
Florida, and went as far as Illinois. He was murdered, in 
1687, by his own people, after encountering the most unpa- 
ralleled hardships for several years. 

The French, more coiM:iliatory toward the aborigines, made 
considerable progress in the western parts of the Floridas, 
and settled in Fensacola in 1696, without any other obstacle 
than the warfare incidental to incursions. They were, how- 
ever, frequently discouraged ; and would have abandoned 
their pursuits, had it not been, as Raynal states, for the sas- 
safras tree, the fragrance and medicinal virtues of which sti- 
mulated them to more persevering exertions. 

Monsieur d'Iberville, a distinguished French explorator, 
was sent to the Mississippi in 1 702, and died off the Havanna.. 

In the same year, the governor of Carolina, Colonel More, 
with a force consisting of 500 regular troops, and 700 Indians, 
made an unsuccessful attack on St. Augustine, leaving, after 
a campaign of three months, his shipping and stores to the 
besieged. 

The Carolinians, in 1704, possessed themselves of Fart St. 
Marks, 240 miles from the capital of East Florida ; and in the 
year following, Apalachy fort was destroyed by the Indians. 

In 1 7 1 2, M. de Crozart obtained from the French govern- 
ment the exclusive commercial privileges of Louisiana and 
West Florida ; at this time, there were only about thirty 
European families in the whole of that country. 

John Law, a Scotchman, in 1717, took an active part in 



HI&TORY. 15 

creating an English interest in West Florida, and gained the 
ascendancy, which would have been more complete, if Ms 
speculations had not been formed on a paper system, too 
common to English financiers. 

In January, 1732, the rage for speculation in the Mississippi 
was prevalent in France. 

General Oglethorpe arrived in Georgia in 1719, (an epoch 
worthy the remembrance of every American, for the birth of 
the illustrious Washington,) and settled in Savannah, the most 
favourable high land he met with ; notwithstanding which, 
the ravages of the climate reduced his forces very considera- 
bly. This circumstance, together with an eye to conquest^ 
induced him to pi'oceed, in 1 740, against Florida, The jea- 
lousy of the Spaniards prepared a vigorous resistance for him, 
which he met at the gates of St. Augustine, from w^hence he 
was compelled to retire. The General had only 400 regulars- 
of his own regiment, and 300 Indians, accompanied by 200 
seamen, under Captain Warren, of the Squirrel, of 50 guns. 
Two reasoHS are assigned for the failure of this expedition ; 
one, that the Spaniards were too strong, having 1 ,000 men -y^ 
and the other, that the Carolina volunteers, who had come to 
assist, marched off without either asking or receiving leave. 
Others attributed his want of success to the weather, and to 
his having established his battery on Anastasia Island, at too 
great a distance to give effect to his artillery. 

The question of boundary had previously been the subject 
of negociation. General Oglethorpe wished to restrain the 
limits of the Spaniards to the St. Johns, in a northerly direc- 
tion ; while the Governor of Florida, with an occult policy 



16 HISTORY, . . 

peculiar to his government, was not only endeavouring to stir 
up the Indians in his favour, but had sent emissaries to Caro- ' 
lina, with the diabolical project of creating an insurrection 
among the blacks, whose number had increased to upwards 
of 40,000, and who killed twenty-three white people at 
his instigation. He hkewise offered inducements 4;o the 
white malecontents to join his standard, with the promise of 
the same pay as that of the Spanish troops. No doubt can be 
entertained, that this system of policy originated in Europe, 
where the Courts of England and Spain were alike preparing 
to contend for the Floridas. 

The latter government remonstrated most earnestly, through 
their ambassador, Don Thomas Geraldino, in 1737, against 
the proceedings of General Oglethorpe, whose military ta- 
lents were feared; and availing itself of the discontents 
among the Georgians, on account of the extraordinary 
privileges granted to the Trustees, of the non-importation of 
negroes, excited them by all means to revolt ; but the British 
government, more alert, declared war against Spain, in Octo- 
ber, 1739. 

General Oglethorpe, who was the Washington of Georgia, al- 
though the commissioner of George the Second, had taken steps 
to secure not only the affections of the people, but the friend- 
ship of the Indians, with whom he made a treaty, in August, 
1739, by which it was declared, that all the lands between Sa- 
vannah and St. Johns Rivers, with the adjacent islands, and 
from the latter river to Apalache Bay, should belong to the 
Creek Nation, to be held by it as tenants in common. 

The activity and talents of General Oglethorpe were not to 



HISTORY. 17 

be surpassed, and were naturally calculated to strike terror in 
his enemy, who contemplated an offensive war. To meet 
this, he constructed a chain of forts from Frederica to St. 
Johns inclusively. Those on Cumberland, and Fort George 
at the mouth of St. Johns, are considered effective at this 
day. 

Strong reinforcements arrived at St. Augustine f^om the 
Havana, in 1742, under De Rodondo and Monteano, for the 
purpose of invading Georgia ; this they did with a fleet of 
36 sail and 5,000 men, including 400 Florida Indians, most of 
whom landed at Amelia. In proceeding to Frederica. they were 
opposed by the undaunted Oglethorpe, who, with about 450 
regulars and 200 Indians and militia, resolved to make a vigo- 
rous defence. He disputed every inch of ground, and obliged 
them, not so much by hard fighting, as by the ruses dc guerrt 
he played upon them, to retreat to the Havana, 

Previous to this, the grand divisions of North America were 
known as Florida and Canada, names intended by the English 
and French to designate their respective possessions on the 
whole Continent. 

Few events or incidents occurred in the Floridas, necessa- 
ry to be given in these sketches, previous to the year 1763, 
when the contentions for the sovereignty of North America, 
between England, Spain, and France, were in some degree 
settled by the treaty of peace concluded by these powers, 
dated the 3d of November, 1762, and ratified the 10th of Fe- 
bruary, 1763. By this treaty, the provinces of East and West 
Florida were ceded to Great Britain by Spain, in exchange 

3 



18 HISTOKY. 

for Cuba. The contracted policy, and the cruelty of the lat- 
ter government, prevented any useful or permanent settle- 
ment being effected under their auspices. {See Appendix.) 

The first notice I shall take of this change in the political 
situation of these provinces, is the temporary command of 
Major Ogilvie, who, by his impolitic conduct, drove all the 
Spanish inhabitants to the Havana. In consequence of this, 
Governor Grant issued a proclamation, inviting settlers, da- 
ted at St. Augustine, the 7th of October, 1763. {See Appen- 
dix.) In this proclamation, he mentions the salubrity of the 
climate, as well as the resources expected to be derived from 
the province in those days. What these resources w^ere, will 
be found in the subsequent part of this work. 

Governor Grant was high in command at the capture of the 
Havana by the British in 1762 ; and was no doubt promoted 
to this government, as a mark of approbation for his services 
on that occasion, and for those in the war with the Indians. 

His administration, in a country hitherto the seat of war 
between the aborigines and the several European powers re- 
spectively, was not entered upon without difficulties, which 
required system, firmness, and dignified policy, to surmount. 
His experience and deliberate courage as a soldier, had 
been remarked in several engagements with the Indians, 
when he was left in command of the Carolinas, in 1759, by 
Col. Montgomery, (Lord Eglintoun.) He was, like many of 
his cotemporaries, mistaken in his predictions as to the issue 
of the American contest, and was much ridiculed for joining 
in the assertion made in parliament, that 5,000 British troops 
could march unmolested from one end of the Continent to the 



HISTORY. 19 

other. It may be said of him, that daring his command, 
which he held ten jears, he was faithful to his sovereign, and 
just and conciliatory to the people ; and possessed the savoir 
vivre to such a degree, that upon hearing of any coolness or 
dissension between those about him, they were brought toge- 
ther at his table, (always well provided,) and reconciled be- 
fore they were allowed to leave it. 

He was to Florida what Oglethorpe had been to Georgia — 
indefatigable in his exertions to promote the welfare of the 
province. Like other men, he had his foibles : among these 
has been mentioned his love of money ; with this, however, 
he was less chargeable than most other colonizing Governors. 

The proclamation of Governor Grant, together with the 
policy of the British government at home, brought some re- 
spectable planters from Carolina, among whom was Major 
Moultrie, afterwards Lieutenant Governor of the province, 
and William Drayton, Esq. the Chief Justice. At the same 
time, several noblemen in England, among whom were Lords 
Hawke, Egmont, Grenville, and Hillsborough, became the 
grantees of large tracts of land ; and being desirous of impro- 
ving them, sent out agents with suitable means. None of 
these effected so much toward the population and settlement 
of the country as Sir William Duncan, Doctor Turnbull, Den- 
nys Rolle, and Richard Oswald^ Esqrs* The two former, in 
company, having, at the vast expense of 166,000 dollars, and 
much trouble, brought from Smyrna, under indentures, 1,500 
Greeks, Italians, and Minorcans, who formed a settlement 
sixty miles south of St. Augustine, and called it New Smyr- 
na, where the cultivation of indigo, and other .products, in^ 



^0 HISTORY. 

eluding the sugar cane, was carried on with success 5 particu- 
larly the former. 

This site, which is truly admirable, is surrounded by some 
of the most valuable lands in the province, and is at present 
the property of Judge Hull, who had resided upon it for se- 
veral years, with much satisfaction, until driven away by the 
eflfects of the revolution of 1812, when his attachment to the, 
great American family rendered him an object of suspicion 
on the part of the royahsts, who accordingly imprisoned him 
for a short time. , 

For several years previous to the convulsions in the nor- 
thern part of the Continent, the provinces had been improv- 
ing in agriculture, in population, and in commerce ; but this 
event made it necessary for the British government to in- 
crease the military force, for the protection of her West- 
India trade, and as an impenetrable barrier between the 
Spanish and French possessions in the Gulf of Mexico, and 
the American States on the Atlantic, which were ripe for 
revolt. 

As this part of my Narrative is intended as a review of 
political events, the reader is referred to a distinct head for 
the commercial and agricultural progress just mentioned. 

During Governor Grant's administration, which lasted till 
1771, peace and prosperity seemed to pervade the province. 
On his departure, some differences arose between his suc- 
cessor. Major Moultrie, and several members of the council, 
which tended to create dissatisfaction, and to cast a gloom 
over the community. Presentments made by the grand jury 
were disregarded ; apphcations were made for moneys, grants 



HISTORY. 21 

ed for the use of the province, and said to have been misap- 
plied ; thus creating dissensions among the heads of families, 
so repugnant to the harmony and the true interests of small 
communities. 

At this period, when it was expected by some that Dr. 
Turnbull, on account of his great services to the colony, 
would have had the command of it, an attempt was made to 
form a representative government ; but such were the dis- 
cords in the provinces, that it failed, from the wish to have 
annual, instead of triennial elections, as prescribed by the 
executive. The freeholders were inflexible in their resolution 
for establishing the former, and continued without representa- 
tion, rather than submit. These bickerings, originating be- 
tween two gentlemen of high standing, and carried on in the 
true spirit of high-minded Carolinians, had the effect of cre- 
ating two parties, which the recommendation of Dr. Franklin, 
at the convention in Albany, in June, 1 754, no doubt produced. 
It was cherished by open declarations in the north ; where 
the proposition was relished of forming a colonial compact, 
under which men were to be raised throughout the continent, 
for protection and defence. From this originated the project 
of forming the congress of the United States ; and it was tliis 
that gave its inhabitants a conviction of that strength which 
enabled them eventually to shake off the authority of the mo- 
ther country. It will readily be inferred, that one of these 
parties was favourable to the American cause, and the other 
to that of the King. 

Major Moultrie, who was an officer of merit in the Chero- 
kee war tsnder General Montgomery, possessed great urbanity 



22 HIS TORT. 

©f manners, and strength of mind,, and was devoted to tlie 
interests of the provinces. Although brother to the General 
so renowned in the history of the American war, he differed 
with him in pohtics, and was firm in support of the royal cause ; 
yet, as Lieutenant Governor, his command was. considered 
temporary, and not calculated to insure that co-operation 
which the affairs of the country required, and which his prede- 
cessor had more successfully obtained. 

The Chief Justice, William Drayton, a gentleman of ta- 
lents, and of great professional knowledge, of refined man- 
ners, and strong pretensions to power and influence, was un- 
willing to yield implicitly to the Lieutenant Governor, and 
took means to thwart his gubernatorial measures j in conse- 
q^uence of which he was suspended. 

It is unnecessary to enlarge, at this distant period, upon the 
eon&equences of this act, which was considered very arbitra- 
ry, farther than stating, that as Mr. Drayton was suspected to 
be friendly to the cause of liberty, his appeal to the British 
ministry was unsuccessful ; and he retired, first to England, 
and thence to South Carolina, where his talents and st. .ices 
were rendered conspicuously useful in effecting American in- 
dependence. 

The Rev. John Forbes, one of the Assistant Judges, and 
of the Council, was called to fill the vacancy on the bench, 
occasioned by the suspension of Mr. Drayton ; but his politics 
being alike tinctured with republicanism, and an attachment 
to the great American cause, his appointment was not con- 
firmed, and a Chief Justice was sent out direct from England, 
©f whose principles, in favour of the royal cause, no doubt 
could be entertained. 



HISTORY. "23 

A strong party in Georgia had exhibited some symptoms of 
dissatisfaction, at the conduct of the British government at 
liome ; but it was kept so much in check by the King's p^urty, 
and the poHcy of those in his pay, that the Whigs did not, at 
tirst, join in the American confederacy. To this temporising 
conduct on their part may be attributed, in some degree, the 
slender efforts made by the Floridians to join the Independents, 
whose cause was ahvays depicted to tiiem as hopeless in ex- 
pectation, and atrocious in principle. 

In March, 1774, Colonel Tonyn [a protSge of Lord March- 
mont and George Rose) arrived as Governor, with full know- 
ledge of the discontents in the north, the commotions arising 
from them, the remonstrances ineffectually made to the British 
government, and, it is presumed, with correspondent instruc- 
tions, since he issued proclamations inviting, under the miost 
specious promises, the Americans attached to the royal cause, 
who wished to quit the provinces in revolt, to resort to Florida, 
^nd enjoy every advantage which he could possibly afford 
them. 

He also had a talk with the Indians on the 26th of TTovem- 
1?er, 1 775, at Picolata, whither he went with the members of 
the Council, for the purpose of securing their alliance ; and, 
likewise, issued commissions for privateers : thus preparing 
Cor a war of cruelty on land, and of vexation on the sea. 

Remote from the theatre of war, which blazed forth in the 
north, the news of the declaration was accompanied by the 
burning of the effigies of John Hancock and Samuel .Adams on 
the public parade. This shameful conduct, intended to vilify 
those characters in the eyes of a mixed population, was Bot 



24 filSTORT. 

without its effect, particularly upon the Minorcans, an illi- 
terate but hardy set of men, seasoned to the climate, vihoae 
services were required in the field on this as well as ,on more 
powerful accounts. 

It is worthy of remark, that the place where the effigies of 
these distinguished men were burned by the British, is the 
identical spot selected by the Spaniards, thirty-six years after 
this event, to erect a monument in honour of the Cortes, It is 
fervently hoped, that the exertions of this assembly may soon 
enable the Spanish people to reap the advantages resulting 
from constitutional liberty, and secure a long and uninterrupt- 
ed enjoyment of it to themselves and their posterity. 

Many of these Minorcans released themselves from their 
indentures, enlisted in the King's rangers, and became after- 
wards actively engaged under Col. Brown in carrying the war 
into Georgia ; where, by a predatory system, in alliance 
with the Indians, the Americans were much annoyed, and pre- 
vented from making the attacks on East Florida which were 
frequently threatened, and seriously concerted. Strong ef- 
forts were at the same time made, and promising inducements 
held out by the Governor, to bring over the people of Georgia 
to the royal party ; in consequence of this, many came inte 
the province, looking to it as an asylum or refuge from the 
troubles incident to a state of civil war, which became active 
and violent in the Carolinas as well as in Georgia. 

Privateers were fitted out to annoy the southern people 
inimical to the king ; and a fort was built at St. Mary's, by 
Jerrnyn Wright, brother to the governor of Georgia, to pro- 



HISTORY. 2B 

iect them with their prizes. These were indications of hos- 
tihty, which served to inflame the Georgians who had join- 
ed the confederacy ; they accordingly took measures for act- 
ing offensively against the loyalists who had withdrawn to 
East Florida. 

While Generals Lee, Moultrie, and Howe, were contem- 
plating the invasion of East Florida, with the republican forces 
from Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, Colonels Fuser, 
Brown, and M'Girth, on the British side, were mustering all 
the forces within their reach, of regulars, rangers, loyalist 
militia, and Indians, for an attack upon Georgia, having the 
King's brig Hinchinbrook, Captain Ellis, the St Johns 
schooner, Captain Grant, and some galleys, under Captains 
Mowbray and Dames, to co-operate with them. 

The capture, in August, 1 795, of the snow Betsey, Captain 
Lofthouse, from London, with 111 barrels of gunpowder, gave 
early proofs of American heroism, and excited both surprise 
and alarm in the Governor of Florida. This was effected off 
the bar of St. Augustine by some privateersmen from Caro- 
lina, who from a sloop that was taken for a negro trader, 
boarded the Betsey in disguise, and discharged her in sight of 
the garrison and men of war in the harbour, giving a bill 
signed Clement Lampriere, and drawn on Miles Brewton, 
Charleston, for 1000/. sterling. Immediately after this, the 
Governor sent the rangers and Indians under Colonel Brown 
into Georgia, where they carried on a predatory warfare. 
They reached Fort M'Tntosh, on the river St. Ilia, which 
they attempted to surprise, but without success. 

4 



"M HISTORY. 

Here the reader should be informed, that Colonel Brown,, 
having been tarred and feathered in Georgia by the liberty 
boys, for some intemperate conduct, did not feel much affec- 
tion for them or their cause. To this enmity may be ascrib- 
ed, in part, that inveteracy, zeal, and activity, which he al- 
ways exhibited in every expedition directed against the 
Americans.— He was taken from the paths of private hfe, 
and became an enterprising and intrepid officer. Inured to 
the hardships, fatigues, and privations, to which this species 
of warfare exposed him, he was a favourite with the colonial 
government, and their adherents ; yet on that account, and 
from the great influence he had with the Indians, he was viewed 
with jealousy by the officers of the regular army. 

Governor Tonyn issued a proclamation in August, 1 776, 
inviting, in strong terms, the inhabitants of the town of St. 
Johns and of the Musquetoes, to assemble and co-operate 
with the king's troops, in resisting the " perfidious insinua- 
tions" of the neighbouring colonists ; in opposing and repelling 
their future incursions into the province, and to prevent any 
more infatuated men from joining their " traitorous neigh- 
hours.'^'' This was met by a counter-proclamation in the early 
part of 1777, by President Button Gwinnet of Georgia, offer- 
ing protection to the persons and property of those who 
would join the American standard, in opposition to tyranny. 
He remarked, that since the God of armies had appeared so 
remarkably in favor of liberty, the period could not be far 
distant, when the enemies of America would be clothed with 
everlasting shame and dishonour. 

Beside the ranger? who were considered as a colonial 



HISTORY. 27 

corps, there was a body of volunteers of about 200 men, 
with officers of their own choosing, well trained, clothed 
and armed at their own expense, whose services were ac- 
cepted, to perform garrison duty, during the contemplated 
expedition of the regular troops, under Colonel Fuser, in 
Georgia. 

Two incidents occurred at this period that were highly 
favourable to the cause of liberty ; and which, with a more 
dense population, understanding its rights, would have proved 
of serious consequence, and perhaps fatal, to the king's go- 
vernment in the province. One of these was, an attempt 
to place the militia under the orders of the regulars, which 
was permitted by the latter, though not without violent re- 
monstrances. The other was the case of Walter Stewart, a 
Scotchman by birth, one of the volunteer militia, and at the 
same time a knight of the comb, who being called upon to 
exercise his professional talents upon Captain Sawyer, of the 
King's brig Porcupine, at anchor in the harbour, went on 
board, and either by accident, or otherwise, brought on shore 
a comb belonging to the Captain. An offence of this atro- 
cious kind, was to be punished ; and the power was most am- 
ply exercised by Captain Sawyer, who ordered the militia- 
man to be lashed to a gun, severely flogged, and detained on 
board. It was intended, no doubt, that he should remain there 
until his wounds were healed ; but this unfortunate Scot 
thought otherwise, and availing himself of an opportunity, 
jumped overboard, and swam to the shore, to show his lacera- 
ted back to his comrades. 

This event was calculated to arouse the angry feelings anrJ 



28 HISTORY* 

excite the indignation of the whole community ; but tended 
particularly to incense the militia, who, as they became more 
numerous by the arrival of the loyalists from the Caro- 
linas and Georgia, were more tenacious of those rights of 
which Englishmen boast with so much pride. The affair was 
hushed, and the sufferings of the injured Scot were assuaged 
by a donation in money, better calculated to alleviate his 
circumstances, than to palliate the enormity of the offence. 

This was a period at which the arm of government required 
all the strength it could collect ; for an invasion was threat- 
ened by Colonel White from Georgia, who was said to be 
advancing on the Altamaha, which the Americans had forti- 
fied, so as to secure that frontier by a chain of forts. At the 
same time a proclamation was sent forth, inviting all the 
citizens of the United States to assemble at a camp formed in 
Burke county, and from thence to march into Florida, under 
the command of the governor of the state — provisions and 
ammunition to be supplied gratis, and all captures free plunder. 
These circumstances, together with the news of the treaty of 
alliance entered into between the United States and France, 
and a wavering disposition, manifested on the part of the 
Indian tribes, were alarming. The warriors, also, became 
restless, and were desirous of returning from the frontiers to 
their families; while Colonel Stuart, the superintendent of the 
southern department, who was actively engaged in negotia- 
tions among them, had much difficulty in restraining the 
Cussitahs, Oakfuskies, Big Talassies, Apalachicolas and 
Watskays, all favourable to the Americans, from taking an 
active part against the royalists, who w;re joined hy thf 



HISTORY. 29 

Chehaws and other lower Creeks. The arrival of Captaih 
"Elphinstone (Lord Keith) and of Captain Moncrief, two 
distinguished officers, high in the prominent departments of 
the navy and engineers, promising strong reinforcements, 
encouraged offensive operations. Upon which Colonel Fuser, 
of the 60th regiment, proceeded with ahout 500 men and a 
train of artillery against Sunbury, with a view of supporting 
the king's party in Georgia. However, his want of success, 
and his loss of men and officers, (among whom was Captain 
Muller of the 60th,) obliged him to fall back, for the purpose 
of awaiting the promised reinforcements. 

The daring inroads made by the Americans, whose hardi- 
hood brought them, on the 24th of June, 1778, to Amelia 
narrows, where they were cutting a passage through with a 
force said to amount to 1000 men, required the united forces 
of Captain Mowbray of the navy, who was preparing an ex- 
pedition from St. Augustine, for the purpose of co-operating 
with Major Graham with 140 men of the 16th regiment, and 
Major Prevost, with a detachment of the 60th, who marched 
from the Cowford, to prevent their farther progress. But 
such was the jealousy which existed in the various depart- 
ments of the service, that notwithstanding every effort was 
made, a sufficient number of men could not be found willing 
to man two galleys carrying twenty-four pounders. Colonel 
Brown could only muster seventy half-starved men ; and the 
Crackers refused to join : thus rendering it necessary to 
fortify St. John's Bluff. For which purpose, and to allay the 
apprehensions of danger. Colonel Fuser, as commander of 
the troops, issued a proclamation on the 27th June, requiring- 



30 HISTORY. 

all those who had not entered the militia, to join him, " as 
the rebels might be expected every instant at the bar, o? 
thereabouts." 

To the alarm which this state of things naturally created, 
was added a catastrophe, in the death of Captain Skinner, 
deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, an active and faithful 
officer, while on service on the frontiers of Georgia. The 
cause and manner of his death were variously and not satis- 
factorily accounted for. The event created doubts as to the 
farther attachment of those important allies at such a critical 
juncture. 

Thus far, the war in the south had been carried on experi- 
mentally, by both parties, in threatening proclamations ; and, 
when those were found to be of no effect, by rangers, scouts, 
and riflemen, for want of regular troops, or of materials to 
form them in a thinly-peopled country. In the north, resist- 
ance to the king's armies became more systematic and violent; 
:and the American forces, now joined by the French and Spa- 
niards, were more successful. 

Policy, or necessity, prescribed a change of measures to 
the British ; — Georgia and the Carolinas became the theatre 
of war. General Prevost left Florida to be guarded by the 
militia, and marched into Georgia, with a considerable force 
of regulars and others, who endured many hardships, having 
been obliged to depend on oysters for food. On the 6th of 
January, 1779, he took possession of Sunbury, and subsequent- 
ly of Savannah and Augusta ; thus securing East Florida from 
any encroachments. Colonel Brown had succeeded in bring- 
ing over the Indians from the Cassetas, Big Talassies, and 



HISTORY. 31 

Oakfuskies, (towns in favour of the Americans,) and prevailed 
upon them, by what was termed a pardonable artifice^ to 
annoy the settlers on the Georgia frontiers. From 2000 to 
3000 of them marched to the aid of General Campbell, whom 
the Cherokees also had promised to join, as soon as required; 
notwithstanding the exertions used, and great encouragement 
offered, to dissuade them, by Don B. de Galvez, a young 
enterprising General in the Spanish service, and Governor of 
Louisiana, who besieged Pensacola, and became master of 
West Florida on the 21st of September, 1779. 

The loss sustained by the British in the west, was not 
t counterbalanced by the temporary conquests they made in 
Georgia ; where they were most formidably assailed, in Oc- 
tober of the same year, (1780,) by the combined forces of the 
United States and France, under Count D'Estaing ; who 
allowed General Prevost, by a ruse de guerre, time to fortify 
Savannah, and to receive such reinforcements as to oblige 
the Count to retire, to the astonishment of the besieged, and 
the no small mortification and detriment of the allied forces. 

This state of things carried the war out of East Florida; so 
that the province had, from various quarters, an increase of 
population, seeking repose, and looking to it as an asylum to 
repair their misfortunes : but they demanded a representative 
form of government, which was soon admitted in the manner 
prescribed by royal authority in 1 763. 

About this time, the British government was vascillating 
between the extremes of adopting a lenient policy, or a rigor- 
ous course, in prosecuting a war which had become formida- 
ble from the accession of powerful allies to the American 



32 HISTORY. 

cause. While its armies were compelled to submit to the 
former policy, the commanders in the south resorted to an 
opposite and less conciliatory course, by laying violent hands 
upon some of the most respectable and most illustrious 
citizens in the Carolinas, as will be seen by the following list 
of their names, arranged in alphabetical order : John Budd, 
Edward Blake, Joseph Bee, Richard Beresford, John Ber- 
wick, D. Bordeaux, Robert Cochrane, Benjamin Cudworth, 
H. V. Crouch, J. S. Cripps, Edward Darrell, Daniel Des- 
saussure, John Edwards, George Flagg, Thomas Ferguson, 
General Gadsden, William Hazil Gibbes, Thomas Grimball, 
William Hall, Thomas Hall, George A. Hall, Isaac Holmes, 
Thomas Heyward, jun. Richard Hutson, Noble William 
Jones, William Johnstone, John Loveday, William Living- 
stone, William See, Richard Lushington, William Logan, 
Hev. L Lewis, William Massey, Alexander Moultrie, Arthur 
Middleton, Edward M'Bready, John Mowatt, Edward North, 
John Neufville, Joseph Parker, Christopher Peters, Benjamin 
Fostell, Samuel Prideaux, John Ornes Poyas, Edward Rut- 
ledge, Dr. David Ramsay, General Jacob Reed, Hugh Rut- 
ledge, John Samsam, Thomas Sarage, Josiah Smith, Thomas 
Singleton, Philip Smith, James Hambden Thomson, John 
Todd, Peter Timothy, Anthony Toomer, Edward Weyman, 
Benjamin Walter, Morton Wilkinson, and James Wakefield. 
Of these sixty-one gentlemen of high standing and character, 
forty were most ungraciously transported from Charleston, in 
August, 1780, to St. Augustine and in a few months after, 
the remainder were compelled to submit, in spite of every 
remonstrance, to similar atrocities, and dragged from their 



HISTORY^. S3 

homes and families, to the comfortless quarters of a garrison 
town, in which thej were all paroled, excepting the vene- 
rable General Gadsden, who inflexibly disdained the prof- 
fered indulgence, and was committed to the fort, in which he 
remained manj months a close prisoner. 
, This harsh measure, which, without farther explanation, 
was called one of imperious policy by the officer enforcing it, 
little corresponded with the overtures for a pacification con- 
templated experimentally by the government at home. It 
tended, however, to improve the culture of liberty in the 
Parson's orange groves, in which these gentlemen were per- 
mitted to vegetate, and to increase the number of disaffected, 
rather than to excite the inhabitants to acts of aggression 
against the party on account of their principles, as was hoped 
on the part of the leading royalists. General Rutherford and 
Colonel Isaacs, of North Carolina, were exiled to Florida at 
the same time. 

This assemblage of republican luminaries, transferred from 
their natural sphere of action to the capital of East Florida, 
fortuitously took place at a period when the Governor could 
no longer defer the meeting of an assembly of royalists^ au- 
thorized by act of parliament seventeen years before, and now 
strongly urged by the people. 

The immediate conjuncture of circumstances so highly im- 
portant to the province, about to change its political state, 
und involving the liberties of its inhabitants, were objects of 
lively interest to the community, and perplexing to the poli- 
tician ; of this the reader may judge, by referring to the cor- 
respondence, and other official documents, that follow. 



31 HISTORY. 

Extract of a letter from Governor Tonyn to Lord George Ger- 
maine, Secretary of State, 

It is with peculiar satisfaction that I assure your Lordship, 
that since the departure of Monsieur d'Estaing, we have, 
without danger, or the apprehension of it, and unmolested, 
carried on the internal business of the province, in advancing 
agriculture, and furnishing naval stores and lumber for the 
West India market. The season has been remarkably rainy, 
and the planters have raised sufficient provisions for their own 
consumption, and for the supply of this town, and increased 
their stock of negroes, by which means the price of grain has 
fallen from ten shillings to six shillings a bushel ; and was the 
garrison properly supplied, grain, beef, and every kind of pro- 
visions, would be greatly reduced, and we should stand in no 
need of assistance, as formerly, from the neighbouring colo- 
nies. The number of negroes continue to increase. The 
province is exceedingly healthy, which has not been the case 
in Carolina and Georgia ; yet a desire of novelty, more ex- 
tensive prospect of trade, and the circulation of money with 
the army, has led some merchants, and others, to return t® 
their former settlements. 

As an inducement to detain the most useful and industrious 
part of the community, I have given assurances that his Ma- 
jesty, through your Lordship's recommendation, is to build a 
fort immediately at the mouth of the St. Marys, for the pro- 
tection of trade to the northward ; and that a house of assem- 
bly shall be called in the course of the winter, to regulate our 
internal police, and to make a few local laws. 



HISTORY. 35 

The speedy settlement of the northern part of this province, 
will induce many valuable families and loyal subjects to re- 
main in this country ; whereas, if this is to remain unprotect- 
ed, w-e shall be infested by thieves and robbers from that 
quarter, and the merchant and planter must continue to suf- 
fer for want of a good port, as at present the channel of com- 
merce is through Charleston, by which a double freight and 
insurance is laid upon all exports and imports. 

There are above 20,000 barrels of turpentine, and a variely 
of other stores, now on the planters hands, at St. John's river, 
for want of a market. 

I have, my Lord, maturely weighed the expediency, neces- 
sity, advantages and disadvantages, benefit and danger, of con- 
voking a house of representatives ; and nothing but the neces- 
sity of it, (to remove deep-rooted prejudices,) for the benefit 
of this province, could have induced me to request instruc- 
tions from your Lordship, relative thereto, how to pro- 
ceed farther on this point ; but these great objects must 
actuate my conduct, and determine me to take this arduous 
and dangerous step. 

I perceive the cry for a provincial legislature, to remedy 
local inconveniences, is as loud as ever ; and suggestions are 
thrown out, that without it, people's property is not secure, 
and that they must live in a country where they can enjoy, 
in their utmost extent, the advantages of the British constitu- 
tion, and laws formed with their consent. But mention the 
expediency, propriety, reasonableness, justice and gratitude 
of imposing taxes for the expenses of government, they are 
all silent, or so exceedingly poor as not to be able to pay the 
east farthing. 



36 HISTORY. 

Notwithstanding, my Lord, that this is in general the temper 
of the people, I purpose to issue writs for a general election 
of representatives, to meet the beginning of the year. 

I foresee other inconveniences, arising from several of 
the principal rebel prisoners being sent here from Charles- 
ton, who may poison the minds of the people ; although to 
prevent this, and for their former conduct, they are treated 
with great contempt, and to have any friendly intercourse 
with them, is considered as a mark of disrespect to his 
Majesty^ and displeasing to me. 

It is my most earnest wish, and chief endeavour, strictly to 
comply with every instruction I have the honour of receiving 
from his majesty, communicated to me by your Lordship ; but 
the late date of your Lordship's letters, and other circum- 
stances, often puts it out of my power ; and it is with an 
exultation of joy and gratitude that I render your Lordship my 
sincere thanks for the favorable light in which your Lordship 
has viewed my endeavors in his Majesty's service, and re- 
commended to the treasury the payment of my reasonable and 
necessary expenditures. Your Lordship's letter, in which 
you inform me that no allowance is made for Indian presents, 
I only received lately ; before which, considerable expenses 
had been incurred, and usually discharged from that fund, 
which I am confident your Lordship will discharge. With 
respect to my future conduct, I beg leave to inform your 
Lordship, that the Indians have ever been well received here; 
that they have been of great service, in protecting the 
province against the repeated incursions of the rebels ; that 
a body of them is settled within a few miles of the set- 



HISTORY. 37 

tlements on St. John's river ; and that by M'ithdrawing their 
usual supplies, which they will impute to our dissatisfaction 
with them, or to our poverty, they will readily side with the 
rebels or Spaniards. The murder of one man by them, 
would soon break up our settlements, and unpeople the 
province, which is not yet established. 

Moreover, the Indian fund answered many other necessary 
purposes, such as ferry boat expenses. So that, I hope your 
Lordship will order payment of the necessary expenditures 
for this year, and recommend to parliament some reasonable 
provision for the succeeding ; especially, as the civil depart- 
ment will be considered, in times of peace, I humbly pre- 
sume, the most proper for regulating the Indian department. 

Extract of a letter from Governor Tonyn to Lord George 
Germaine, Secretary of State. 

St. Augustine, 1780. 

Apprehending, my Lord, upon grounds already communi- 
cated by me to your Lordship, that the court of Spain intend- 
ed to invade this province, 1 have used my utmost efforts to 
strengthen the fortifications, by repairing both lines of the 
town, which are now formidable, and adding several new 
works, the main burden and expense of which, my Lord, has 
fallen upon the inhabitants, who have for several months had 
a considerable part of their negroes employed at the King's 
works. 

I have repeatedly represented the defenceless state of the 
province to his Majesty's commander in chief of the army 



38 HISTORY. 

and navy, and the commanding officers of the district ; but, 
my Lord, to httle effect. And, without particular instructions 
from your Lordship, restrained as I am by his Majesty's gene- 
ral instructions, my representations will be without effect. 

Last June, Lieut. Colonel Clarke* and Colonel Durnford 
of the engineers, arrived here, and returned to Savannah in 
a few weeks, carrying with them the small reinforcement of 
troops they brought, and the King's artificers : however, 1 
have the satisfaction to inform your Lordship, that the works 
are almost completed, under the direction of Captain Bur- 
rard,t of the 60th regiment, whose judgment and close atten- 
tion deserve commendation. Several galleys, mounting one 
and two twenty-four pounders, have been built for the de- 
fence of the bar : they are not manned, though I have put an 
embargo on all vessels for six weeks past, greatly prejudicial 
to the commercial interests, to facilitate the matter. I pro- 
posed to Lieut. Colonel Skinner to commission officers, who 
would enlist men for that service, to be in readiness in case 
of an invasion, and not to receive pay until on actual service. 
By this means, my Lord, many of them might follow, in the 
mean time, other occupations, and would be secure against 
being impressed on board the King's ships. 

It is with deep concern that I take this opportunity of sig- 
nifying to your lordship my apprehensions of danger in case 
of an attack by a formidable force. 

The state of the garrison, although exceeding healthy, is 
very inconsiderable. The militia does not consist, for com- 

* SirAlured. t Sir Harry. 



HISTORY. 39 

mon service, of above : several are Minorcans, and I 

have my doubts of their loyalty, being of Spanish and French 
extraction, and of the Roman Cathohc religion. 

The Seminole Indians, 800 gunmen, have been employed 
in scouting parties along the coast, since the surrender of 
West Florida. They are well affected, and I can confide in 
the head men. But the body of the nation are far from be- 
ing satisfied with the economy that prevails in that depart- 
ment : and Spanish emissaries are not wanting to foster dis- 
content. 

As the aid of Indians will be of the utmost importance to 
us in our weak state, I proposed to conciliate and secure 
their affections by engaging to meet them in congress at St. 
John's river in October. However, I could procure neither 
provisions nor presents for that purpose, the Indian presents 
your Lordship was pleased to direct to be sent to me not be- 
ing arrived, and it is with difficulty I can supply straggling 
parties with a few strouds and a little rice. 

But, my Lord, how can I render the Indians serviceable, 
when I can have neither presents nor provisions but by 
an application through the commanding officer of the troops 
to a deputy commissary of the superintendant of Indian 
affairs ? And were I disposed to lead them to action, I 
should be at a loss, so circumstanced, by whom they were 
to be conducted, and by whom officered and fed. 

The General Assembly, my Lord, have enacted strict rules 
for regulating the militia, and obliging all the male inhabi- 
tants to enroll and serve. I have applied to your Lord- 
ship and to , to have 3,000 staiad of arms laid in fr*r 



40 HISTORY. 

their use in lieu of those given to . Fifteen hundred 

stand of arms have arrived, with other mihtary stores, and are 
lodged in the fort. But my applications to the command- 
ing officer have been ineffectual : arms have been abso- 
lutely refused ; and neither arms nor military stores, of any 
kind, are to be issued by the store-keeper without the or- 
der of the commandant. The officers of the militia send 
provisions to the guard house for the poorer sort of the 
inhabitants, who have been for some time doing town duty ; 
my application to Colonel Glazier for a day's rations having 
been refused. And there is a scarcity and dearth of pro- 
visions among the planters, from the dryness of the last sum- 
mer, and their principal hands having been employed in 
making naval stores. 

The enclosed list of exports for last year will not be 
unacceptable to your Lordship, by which it appears that 
40,000 barrels of naval stores have been shipped in the 
course of last year -, and I flatter myself next year will give 
a considerable additional increase, as I look for several re- 
fugee families from the neighboring colonies, who shall 
receive every encouragement and protection in my power. 
The second general assembly sits in the beginning of the 
year ; and I hope both houses will be well disposed, and pre- 
serve harmony in the public business. 

For your Lordship's inspection, is enclosed a state of the 
late dispute between the upper and commons houses of 
assembly. 

The cartel vessels have arrived from the Havana : the last 
informed me that great sickness prevailed there among the 
troops. 



HISTORY. 4)1 

Although your Lordship was pleased to order the civil offi- 
cers of government who are absent to return to the province, 
none have as yet appeared, my Lord, and the public business 
is inaccurately done ; no encouragement is given to persons 
fit for executing the different trusts ; and the influence of the 
civil officers is wanted to strengthen government. 

Extract of a letter from Governor Tonyn to Lord George Ger- 
maine, Secretary of State. 

St. Augustine, January, 1781. 

By my last letter of — — , I had the honour of informing 
your Lordship, that the first general assembly of this province 

met on the of , and that the freeholders were 

judicious, in their election of the most substantial, sensible, 
and best affected persons in the province, to be their repre- 
sentatives, which continues to be manifested by the modera- 
tion, harmony, and zeal, with which they continue to expe- 
dite the public business. I had the honour of transmitting 
your Lordship the addresses and speech upon that occasion, 
and copies of two acts of assembly, one of which was essen- 
tially necessary for establishing a militia, on a footing that 
will, I hope, greatly contribute to the defence of his Majesty's 
province, whilst it is expressive of the firmest attachment to 
his Majesty's person and government. 

I have the honour of informing your Lordship, that an act 
has 'since passed, which enables me to call upon the planters 
for a proportion of all the negroes within the province, to 
work at the fortifications until they are finished. This aid 

6 



42 HISTORY. 

from the people, my Lord, I shall exercise with the utmost 
delicacy and moderation, as it is a very heavy burden at 
present on the planters. Copies of the journals of both 
houses, and of all the acts of assembly, are preparing to be 
transmitted to your Lordship by the first favourable opportu- 
nity. I am sure, from the present temper of both houses, 
that their deliberations will meet with his Majesty's approba- 
tion, and be auspicious to the future prosperity of the pro- 
vince. And I am confident, that the spirit of trust in govern- 
ment, and a determined resolution to maintain to the utmost 
their rights against any assailants, will not only be pleasing to 
their sovereign, but more cheerfully draw from his Majesty's 
servants on this side of the Atlantic such succour as thejr 
can afford. 

An Opinion on the State of the Province in the fall of 1780, 
submitted to the British Governmetit, with the reasons sug- 
gested for calling a House of Representatives, and forming 
a Provincial Legislature as soon as conveniently may he. 

It is known that, for several years, it has been the general 
sense of the inhabitants of this province, that a few regula- 
tions and laws are much wanted ; that to form them, a pro- 
vincial legislature would be highly expedient and useful; 
and that a cessation of calling a house would not be construed 
into an encroachment upon the constitution and liberty of 
the subject. That the want of such legislative body has been 
presented repeatedly as a great grievance ; and that, although 
sometimes this was done from the influence of ambitious 



HISTORY. 43 

men, desirous of having some weight in the administration of 
government, it proceeded often from the real sentiments of 
the people. 

A prejudice prevails universally, that when a provincial 
legislature does not exist, the people must be governed by 
military law. This prejudice, nothing but the forming a 
provincial legislature can remove. And to remove it is 
necessary for the content of the inhabitants now in the pro- 
vince, and to induce others to come from the neighbouring 
colonies. English subjects will never believe, without some 
such representation, that they enjoy the privileges and ad- 
vantages of the British constitution and a free government. 

When people are governed by laws, to which they have, 
or think they have, given their consent, they submit readily 
to any inconveniences they may suffer ; and burdens of their 
own imposition are easily borne. 

In fact, there are many local inconveniences which exist 
at present — such as establishing a property in negroes, regu- 
lating them and their punishment, and contributing to public 
works, and recovering of small debts, and debts due by per- 
sons who, though not in the province, have property in it, 
which cannot be attached for want of an authorizing law. 
These would be remedied by a legislature ; and it will be 
readily allowed, that whatever ordinances of council have 
been promulgated, have been generally ill received ; and for 
want of a sanction which a law would impose, have had 
little effect. 

It is generally believed, that instructions have been re- 
ceived from the ministry to convoke a house of assembly. 



44 HISTORY. 

It is presumed that it would be justice, and pleasing to the 
people to know, that these instructions originated from a 
representation of the propriety and expediency of such a 
measure ; and that to form a house of representatives is per- 
fectly agreeable to the executive. 

As people in most countries know, or pretend to know, 
many things they have little or nothing to do with, these 
late suggestions respecting a provincial legislature, are by 
many construed into a sense not favourable to popular ap- 
plause, as if it was a measure forced upon the executive, or 
at least as if it had not sufficient confidence to put in those 
over whom it presides ; — especially, silence by the council 
upon this subject may give grounds for such unfavourable 
insinuations. 

Until some intimation of an intention to form a house of 
assembly, the sentiments of the people will not be known ; 
that then, they must be stifled, and methods found to dis- 
cover and make known their sentiments to the executive ; 
and that although a code of laws may be framed in idea, or 
upon paper, they will not be exactly copied, not even from 
those of Georgia, where a similarity of circumstances may be 
sufficient reasons for adopting them. 

The members of the legislature will think themselves free, 
and will act as such. 

As to taxes, the province is able to bear none. Some 
nominal ones, however, may be adopted ; and it is reasona- 
ble, and would be a mark of our gratitude and good sense, 
to make such ; and by this, lay a foundation for a revenue 
for defraying the expense of supporting the government of 



HISTORY, 45 

the whole empire, and also of our own provincial exigencies, 
and an acknowledgment of dependence upon the supreme 
legislature of the whole empire. 

Suppose a tax for either of the above purposes upon every 
negro imported for sale, upon every pipe of wine or hogs* 
head of rum. In such cases as this, the law has a great 
show ; the treasury and its officers alone may be supposed to 
know how inconsiderable the sum received is ; and it would be 
reckoned no fraud to impose taxes that would have, in effect, 
no existence for some years. 

Establish taxes upon uncultivated lands, or take away, 
after a certain term of years, the private property in them. 
If the province will be loyal, and show gratitude, the English 
nation will support it in raising produce, beneficial to the 
mother country, and the King will continue his bounty for the 
support of government. 

The civil government in Georgia was supported for years 
after they had a provincial legislature, and why may not this ? 
The mind of man is alive, and formed for novelty and 
schemes; and people are always pleased with the appear- 
ance of consequence, and works they can call their own. 
Upon this principle, it is apprehended, a house of assembly 
would be useful, and increase our numbers. Dissensions 
would arise, but they are a less evil. As to the expediency 
of imposing taxes for the purposes required, nothing is more 
reasonable ; and it is to be regretted we have it not in our 
power to take the lead, and set a laudable example to the 
other colonies. Georgia has, it is presumed, already made 
provision for the expenses of the government of the empire^ 



46 



HISTORY, 



and for the provincial exigencies. Upon the same principle, 
it would be beneficial to suggCwSt, that a fort is immediately to 
be built at the mouth of St. Mary's river ; that lots will be 
granted immediately in Hillsborough town ; that an officer of 
the customs and pilot shall be appointed, and trade encou- 
raged. 

That to add to this show, the surveyor should resurvey 
Hillsborough town ; petitions for town lots be received and 
surveys ordered, and that a party of men should be sent 
there for the protection of the inhabitants ; and whether any 
such plan of a fort is to be made use of or not, will depend 
entirely upon the executive. In the mean time, it may for- 
ward the settling of the country ; and if the king's troops are 
not in danger of being cut off, they will be there stationed 
beneficially for the protection of the province. 

Such was the project submitted for the farther establish- 
ment of a representative government and settlement in the 
province of East Florida. 

Preparations having been accordingly made, Governar 
Tonyn met the upper and lower houses of assembly, and de- 
livered to them a speech, in March, 1781, of which the fol- 
lowing are extracts, showing the objects of government, the 
progress in legislation, fortification, and at length of taxation; 
which last was always looked to as a consequence inseparable 
from the privilege of the representative government, which 
it had been declared by the executive most for the interest 
of the inhabitants to defer on that account. 

No quit-rents or taxes had hitherto been called for, and the 



HISTORY. 47 

burden of contributing towards the expense of the govern- 
ment was unknown to the new legislators, who were much at 
a loss for expedients to raise the necessary revenues from 
the slender resources which presented themselves in the in- 
fant state of the colony. 

Governor Tonyn's Speech on convening for the first time the 
Legislature, 

I am happy that, during my administration of the govern- 
ment of this province, it hath arrived at such a state of af- 
fluence and importance, as to enable me with propriety to 
fulfil his Majesty's most gracious engagements, in his royal 
proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763, by establishing a 
provincial legislature, for the purpose of making constitutions, 
ordaining laws, statutes and ordinances, as near as may be 
agreeable to the laws of England, under such regulations and 
restrictions as are used in other colonies, for the public wel- 
fare and good government of this province and its inhabitants. 

Of late, gentlemen, the increase of property, from your 
success in commerce and planting, has been considerable ; 
and the industry and judgment of a few may evince to Great 
Britain, that ample returns in produce may be made, for 
money laid out in raising a produce equally beneficial to the 
planter and the mother country, in one of the most healthy 
and fertile climates upon earth. 

As the King and parliament have, with an astonishing and 
unprecedented condescension, relinquished their just right of 
taxation, provided the provincial legislature will make due 



48 HISTORY. 

provision for defraying a reasonable part of the expenses of 
the government of the empire at large, and for the internal 
government of the colony, I trust that you, gentlemen, in 
the first moment of your existence, will make a provision 
appropriated to these important purposes ; more as a mark of 
your regard to justice, affection and gratitude, for the go- 
vernment under which we have been protected and generous- 
ly fostered and maintained, than for any immediate real ser- 
vice our supply can afford it. 

The quota you in your present circumstances can make, I 
am sensible, will not be adequate to the expenses of the pro- 
vincial government, &c. &c. 

Several bills were passed ; the principal one of which, 
Magna Charta, met with much discussion and violent opposi- 
tion, on the following grounds, viz. — That it was not clear, 
full, accessible, and not adapted to the understanding and 
capacities of those for whose conduct it was to be a rule. — 
That several essential articles intended to strengthen the 
hands of government, and insuring a revenue, as well as 
others declaratory of the rights of the colonists, were rejected. 
That instead of containing provisions calculated to extricate 
the inhabitants from difficulties which the laws of England 
could not reach, because none existed applicable to the then 
state of the colony, it left many importantquestions,which were 
the undoubted province of the legislature to regulate and to 
settle, to be determined by judges appointed by the crown; thus 
unnecessarily subjecting the inhabitants to a voluminous and 
multifarious code of laws,written,many of them,in aforeign Ian- 



HISTORY. 49 

guage, and Saxon character; some obsolete, others use- 
less, and only a few suitable to an infant colony. — That it 
did not require a declaration from the King and Parhament 
as a fundamental condition, that they would not impose any 
duty, tax, or assessment whatever, except only such as might 
be expedient for the regulation of commerce, and applicable 
to the use of the colony. That in tolerating different religions, 
and offering liberty to persons of different nations who should 
become inhabitants of the province, it excepted infidel negroes, 
which was an exception repugnant to the ancient bulwark of 
English liberty. That the governor and council are, by a clause 
in the act, vested with too extensive an authority — ^that of 
withdrawing licenses for the exercise of public worship, 
thereby establishing them judges of the doctrines of religion, 
and vesting them with an authority that must greatly restrain 
and circumscribe that spirit of toleration which this act is 
meant to establish, and which may prove prejudicial to the 
protestant religion. 

Among the other bills which were passed, was one autho- 
rizing taxes, to a certain extent; but which, on their collection, 
did not go farther than a very inconsiderable sum, obtained 
for licenses to sell spirituous liquors ; it did not amount 
to the salary of the Treasurer of the province. It was 
in agitation to oblige the grantees of lands either to improve 
them, or to relinquish their grants, which on a public sale 
were to produce a more efficient revenue ; but this was in- 
terrupted by a political circumstance of no small magnitude, 
being nothing less than an express order from Sir Guy Carle- 

7 



50 HISTORY. 

General Leslie in Carolina, to evacuate the province, with 
the troops and such loyalists as were desirous of accompany- 
ing them. Thus the flattering hopes of the colonists were frus- 
trated, when they were about to derive the hard-earned fruits 
of their attachment to the royal cause. This order, as harsh and 
inconsiderate on the part of its authors as it was mortifying 
and excruciating to the inhabitants, necessarily became the 
subject of a strong remonstrance, first to the Governor, and 
then to the King, depicting their disappointment, and 
the inevitable ruin that would ensue, if it was carried 
into execution. They were couched in the following 
terms : 

That this province had been held out as an asylum for 
the well affected in the other colonies to resort to, where 
they might expect every protection and assistance ; which 
assurances were sanctioned with the royal authority. — That 
the loyal inhabitants who may be enabled to embark must 
depart this province devested of their property, and, in a state 
of the greatest indigence, be obliged, with their families, to 
look out for new habitations, or hecome burthensome to the 
government. Those who are obhged to remain must be in the 
most deplorable and distressed situation, without government, 
laws, or arms, surrounded on all hands by enemies and 
savages, and exposed to the depredations of every lawless 
banditti or hostile invader. And at all events, we must hum- 
bly request your excellency to apply to the commanding 
officer here, for such provisions and military stores as may 
enable us to make a defence, until we can receive further 



HISTORY. 51 

ton, H. B. M. Commander in Chief in America, addressed to 
succour, and that your excellency will be pleased to lose no 
time in making the like application to the commander of the 
southern district. 

During the height of festivity among the military in cele- 
brating the King's birth day, in 1780, Mr. Manning, an en- 
sign in the army, when commanding officer on guard at the 
fort, committed a most flagrant breach of the peace, and 
disgraceful to the service, by ordering the soldiers for- 
cibly to bring a married woman of the Minorcans into 
the guard room, and committing a rape upon her body. Al- 
though the man was admitted to bail, the licentious soldiery 
were so dissatisfied with the proceedings of the law officers 
against him, that they collected in a body of about 200, 
paraded through the streets, went to the husband's house, 
pulled it down, and immediately dispersed. The Gover- 
nor, and the commanding officer of the troops, offered a 
reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of this audacious 
act, and proposed toColonelGlazier to single out some suspect- 
ed persons from the troops when paraded. But the Colonel, and 
the Captain of the corps, suggesting apprehensions of a mutiny 
in that event, and the injured person and the community in 
general, after the first heat of resentment, being appeased, 
further attempts at detection were deemed inexpedient ; the 
officers promising their utmost endeavours to discover the ring- 
leaders. This, however, was never done ; for the ensign 
put an end to his existence, as soon as he heard that the 
grand jury had found a bill against him. 

About the time this disgraceful act was perpetrated. 



52 HISTORY. 

an Indian, in a state of intoxication, was killed in the street 
by a soldier, which caused much discontent among the inha- 
bitants, as well as alarm to the executive. This was a period 
when small events, similar to those just cited, were calculated 
to rise into an importance, which the contagious spirit of the 
north might have raised to a pitch that would have over- 
thrown the tottering power of the British, but for the 
paucity of means within the reach of the people. At this 
period the government was manifestly in the hands of a mili- 
tary commandant, although nominally vested in an officer of 
high grade in the army. 

As soon as the Spaniards were known to take an active 
part in the war, they became, from their wealth and other 
circumstances, more agreeable enemies than the Americans ; 
and the spirit of enterprize was immediately directed against 
them, although the British government and its subjects were 
too much disposed to treat them as a weaker enemy than 
they proved to be. 

In the spring of 1783, Colonel Devereux, who had accom- 
panied the provincial corps from the Carolinas, a high spirit- 
ed young man, celebrated for his gallantry on many occa- 
sions, and who v»dll long be remembered for the urbanity and 
suavity of his manners, made a successful attack on New 
Providence. 

He sailed on this desperate attempt in two private armed 
brigs of 1 2 guns each, with the rangers, &:c. commanded by 
Captains Dowd and Fennell, from St. Augustine, and about 
fifty raggamuffins as volunteers ; and, after picking up a few 
recruits, principally negroes, at Eleuthera and the adjacent 



HISTORY. 53 

island, appeared off the key which forms the harbour of 
Nassau, on the east of the town, towards night. The con- 
quest of a fortified island by so disproportionate a body of 
men, could only be effected by consummate ingenuity and 
address. The men were landed without opposition to the 
east of fort Montagu, which guards the entrance of the har- 
bour in that quarter ; and so great was the supineness of the 
garrison, that when the invaders had reached the ramparts, 
the sentinel only was awake to defend them. He appeared 
with a lighted match in his hand, ready to blow up the for- 
tress in case of extremity. But Colonel JDevereux, who headed 
the attack, before the sentinel could recover from his surprise, 
sprang upon him, and frustrating his intention, made him a 
prisoner, with the sleeping garrison. Having thus easily pos- 
sessed himself of Fort Montagu, Colonel Devereux imme- 
diately proceeded to the top of the ridge, and took a position 
in front of the Governor's house in the upper part of the 
town. Every artifice was used to deceive the Spaniards, 
both as to the number and description of the enemy they had 
to contend with. A show of boats was made continually 
rowing from the vessels, filled with men, who apparently 
landed, but in fact concealed themselves by lying down, as 
they returned to the vessels, and afterwards made their, ap- 
pearance as a fresh supply of troops proceeding to disembark. 
Men of straw, it is said, were dressed out to increase the 
apparent number on the heights ; and some of the troops, to 
intimidate the Spaniards, were painted and disguised like the 
Indians. One or two galleys in the harbour had been cap- 
tured : trusting to these circumstances in his favour, 



51 HISTORY. 

Colonel Devereux, with a pompous description of his for- 
midable force, summoned the Governor to surrender. Some 
hesitation being at first discovered, the Colonel seconded 
his overtures with a well directed shot at the Governor's 
house from a field piece, which produced an immediate 
capitulation. The Spanish troops, in laying down their 
arms, it is said, could not refrain from expressing the utmost 
mortification and confusion, as they surveyed their conque- 
rors, not only so inferior in point of numbers, but ludicrous 
in their dress and military appearance. 

In June, 1784, Governor Zespedez, with a few troops, took 
possession of St. Augustine, in the name of his most Catholic 
Majesty, w^hen the British inhabitants, after an exchange of 
civilities with the Spanish officers, took shipping at Amelia 
and St. John's — some for England, and others for various 
quarters of the British dominions, in search of an asylum. 
Those who were allowed to prefer the West India islands to 
the barren rocks of the Bahamas, or the inhospitable re- 
gions of Nova Scotia, carried their negroes to Jamaica, when 
the severe treatment on one hand, and the apprehension of 
the colonists on the other, that the American system would 
be injurious to their slaves, created a disgust among the go- 
vernors and governed to such degree, that debt, disappoint- 
ment and despair were the only remuneration which the ill- 
fated Floridians received for their credulity in government 
which had thus deceived them by false promises. Strong 
remonstrances were made to the King and parliament, 
in which Lord Hawke, with his characteristic goodness, took 
a most lively part. The cries of want and distress loudly 



HISTORY. 55 

called for relief; and the people of England, recognized 
the appeal by a vote of supply, and the execration in 
which they viewed the conduct of their ministers ; but 
before their humane efforts could be brought into ac- 
tion, death had in seven years opened his jaws to 
decrease the applicants, and to relieve thereby most of 
the languishing and desponding pilgrims, the survivors of 
whom were allowed to perceive the baneful effects of court 
favour lavished upon some by pensions, salaries, and liberal 
appropriations, while others were allowed to starve, or were 
turned over to the liberality of those very American people 
who were most glaringly depicted and vilified a few years 
before as a banditti ! Many of those who were placed in 
this last predicament, have had reason to thank the great Dis- 
poser of all things, since they have enjoyed the best effects 
of their well-placed confidence. 

The Spaniards, thus left, confined themselves to the limits 
of the town, apprehending that the Indians would annoy the 
few who were disposed, or had means to continue cultivating 
the plantations. Some excesses were at first committed, but 
discontinued by reason of the trade to which the house of 
Panton, Leslie &: Forbes were licensed. Peace was main- 
tained at the price of these supplies, and the provinces con- 
tinued in a declining state, until the year 1792, when the 
French revolution, in its all grasping wisdom, brought them 
again into political notice, by the alleged project on the part 
of Mr. Genet, the French minister, to render them subser- 
vient to the views of his government. 



56 HISTORY. 

The scheme was thwarted by the provident hand of Presi- 
dent Washington, and the country rescued by his interven- 
tion from the horrors incident to a state of warfare. 

Although the emigrants from St. Domingo might have re- 
sorted, with the remnants of their property, to Florida, and 
found it an asylum promising peace and plenty, yet, distracted 
and distressed as those truly unfortunate people were, it did 
not meet the views of men flying from fire and sword, to 
take up arms to conquer provinces for a government to 
which their evils were ascribed. Nor did the political situa- 
tion of Spain cherish the acquisition of that species of popu- 
lation for her colonies. 

Governor White had succeeded to the command of East 
Florida, and, as usual, issued a proclamation, offering, as far 
as he could, encouragement to settlers. (See Appendix,) 
But the conditions were relished only by such inhabitants of 
the United States as looked more to convenience than to the 
munificence of Spanish authority, which was supposed to 
afford but a precarious protection or security, although de- 
void of equivalent taxation. 

The extraordinary price to which the peculiar properties 
of Sea Island Cotton raised that valuable plant, stimulated 
several southern planters to extend their production of it to 
the islands on the coast of Florida. The Americans, viewed as 
invidious neighbours, had great difficulty in persuading Go- 
vernor White that the zeal manifested towards settling the 
province under his goyemment, was favourable to the Spa- 
nish crown. 



HISTORY. 67 

This gentleman, of Irish descent, had all the roughness 
peculiar to that nation, without the suavity so predominant 
among the higher classes. His instructions, or the prejudices 
of his government, rendered him inimical to American settlers; 
yet the inhabitants from the Bahamas were more fortunate, 
in being permitted to form agricultural establishments, near 
the Musquito. 



58 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 



East Florida lies between lat. 24 54, and 30 N. hav- 
ing St. Mary's river for its northern boundary, and Cape 
Florida for the southern. It is 350 miles in length, not including 
the Keys; and varies in breadth at the centre of the peninsula, 
owing to its tapering form, from 200 to 240 miles. It con- 
tains about thirty-two millions of acres, and is ventilated 
alternately by the Atlantic and Mexican Seas, to which cir- 
cumstance its great salubrity is ascribed. The change of 
seasons is hardly felt, except in the northern parts of the pro- 
vince, where vegetation receives a check, and in some in- 
stances, an entire stagnation, for a short time. Snow is rarely 
seen, even in those parts ; yet the cold north and north-west 
winds are not without their influence. 

The winds are less changeable in the peninsula than far- 
ther north, being between the east and south-east during the 
spring, summer, and beginning of autumn, when the rains 
commence, and fall heavily for a short time each day. 
There is frequently, perceptible in the northern parts of 
the Province, in the months of July and August, a thick and 
heavy air, which proceeds from the west and south-west 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 59 

winds, occasioning sultry weather at those periods, when the 
less of strangers expose themselves the better, until they 
obtain relief from the eastern and north and south-eastern 
winds, which afford a coolness and an elasticity, by which the 
system is agreeably invigorated. In those months, at the pe- 
riod of the day most oppressive, between eight and ten in the 
morning, before the sea breeze sets in, the thermometer has 
rarely exceeded 94. In St. Augustine, and south of it, 
the winter is scarcely perceptible at mid-day, at which time 
the ice previously formed melts. On the 3d of January, 1766, 
frost destroyed all the tropical productions in the country, 
except oranges. But this does not happen more than twice, 
perhaps, in half a century. 

The climate in East Florida is more uniform than in any 
part of the continent, without either extreme ; being too re- 
mote from the north to admit the dominion of the cold winds 
to prevail long enough for any sensible effect, while its 
proximity to the south affords the mild and refreshing cool- 
ness of the trade winds. 

Accounts from all quarters correspond in representing the 
capital (St. Augustine) as the Montpelier of North America, 
to which the healthy repair for refreshment, and invalids for 
health. This does not depend on bare round assertion, but 
can be substantiated directly by facts. 

One of these facts, to be relied upon, was the extraordJHary 
healthiness of the 9th British regiment, which quartered and 
performed garrison duty there, for eighteen months, and never 
lost a man by natural death. 

A detachment of artillery, which arrived from the West 



60 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 

Indies in a sickly state, soon recruited, and left no traces of 
the contagion. 

The great age attained by the Spaniards and others 
who have resided in the province, are undeniable proofs 
of the general salubrity of this country. Among these 
were Mr. Jesse Fish, of New York, already mentioned ; Mr. 
Fatio, a gentleman of much respectability and information 
from Switzerland ; Clementi, an honest fisherman ; and Don 
Solano, a worthy farmer, now living : these last are Spaniards. 
In 1765 there was a white frost on the 19th of December, 
and in 1765, a fall of snow in the northern part of the pro- 
vince, which was of short duration, and of no material detri- 
ment to the agricultural interests. 

Cardena, in his history, says, that the soldiers who arrived 
in Spain from Florida, in 1569, were healthy and strong, at- 
tributing it to the use of the sassafras tree. Such was the 
confidence in its virtues, confirmed by Doctor Nicholas Mo- 
navedas, who wrote upon the medicinal properties of plants 
in the West Indies, that each soldier carried a piece of sassa- 
fras in his pocket, which he would exhibit and say. This is the 
tree which we have brought to cure us if we should be taken 
ill, as was done in Florida ; — each recounting it as a pro- 
digy. 

By reference to Bartram's Journal, while on St. John's ri- 
ver, the follo\Ting observations are found. In 1765, the 
thermometer was, on the — 

21st December . 74 at P. M. Wind S 

22d 70 S W 

23d 43 N W 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 61 

24th December . 74 at P. M. S 

27th 50 S 

31st 56 

1766 2d January . . 35 N W 

3d 26 N W 

4th 50 S 

6th 38 S 

7th 36 NW 

10th 

11th N W 

From other data until the 10th of May, 1772, the weather 
was dry and cold. The winters of 1772-73, had little 
frost ; having been mostly open, and favourable to the sugar 
cane. Dry weather in July and August, having scarcely had 
a shower of rain from the middle of March to July. — 
The whole country was so much parched, that the corn grew 
up in long small stalks, with little heads, without moisture 
to fill them. 

In the winter of 1773-4, there was a snow storm in Florida, 
which was not injurious, being succeeded by moderate warm 
showers throughout the season ; and in 1775 the seasons were 
very favourable, having had frequent rains from the beginning 
of May. 

During the whole period this country was occupied by 
the British, it does not appear that there were more than ten 
medical men there : — namely. Dr. Turnbull, who followed 
the planting line very extensively; Dr. Yeates, the Secretary; 
Dr. Catherwood, a judge ; Doctors Yf est. Hill, Wright, Kemp, 
Scott, and Henderson, attached to the army; and, lastly, Doctors 



62 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 



Barron and Clithera, from South Carolina, whose professional 
talents were seldom required or exercised, their income 
being derived from more profitable sources. And, under 
the present government, there is only one physician who 
practices ; and he derives his emoluments from the crown, 
which permits medicines and drugs to be sold at cost and 
charges to the inhabitants. 

While experience affords undeniable proofs of the general 
salubrity of the peninsula, it must not be presumed that its in- 
habitants are solitary examples of constant exemption from 
such epidemics as Providence, in its wisdom, dispenses to the 
most favoured countries ; and, therefore, it will not be a mat- 
ter of surprise to the reader to learn that St. Augustine should 
have been visited by one of these in 1804. So, also, 
the regular sea breezes are liable to interruption by oc- 
casional squalls, which are short and violent, but immediate- 
ly after the atmosphere becomes quite clear. At the equi- 
noxes, particularly that of autumn, the rains fall very heavily 
between 1 A. M. and 4 P. M. after which a serene sky, which 
becomes crimsoned with variegated figures in the west, bids 
adieu for the day to the glowing tints of a tropical sun. 

The heat of a vertical sun, every where great on the 
continent, is here mitigated during the summer by the 
sea breezes, as has been already stated, which effectually 
refresh and enliven the system. The continuation of 
summer heat, which is less perceptible than in the southern 
and middle states, lasts one fourth of the year, and leaves 
three fourths of continued spring, viz. from October t-o June j 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 63 

inclusively ; during which the weather is incomparably de- 
lightful. 

It may be justly inferred, from what has already been writ- 
ten upon this climate, that it is not subject to the vicissitudes 
I of the more northern parts of the continent, where the east 
and north-east winds are so tedious in the spring, and present 
a continuation of cold and moisture. It cannot be denied, 
that the effects of climate operate very powerfully upon the 
character and condition of men, and that a temperate region 
is preferable to one inflicting such severity as the winters of 
the north do upon the human frame. 

A close observer of the seasons in Florida, in order to 
prove the purity of the atmosphere, has emphatically stated, 
that there were not, in 1774, any westerly xvinds during the 
summer season ; and if these do not prevail, there need be no 
apprehension of epidemics : the northerly winds have a 
salutary effect. So, in New- York, if after every heavy fall of 
rain in the summer months, the wind should veer to the 
north, the local causes of yellow fever would cease to exist, 
and with them the perpetual controversy as to the origin of 
malignant fevers. 

Thunder storms, accompanied by vivid lightning, which 
rise generally in the south and south M^est, are violent and 
transient, but purify the air in the summer months; and 
although they make great havoc among the pine trees, do 
less mischief in this quarter to man or beast than in other 
parts of the continent. One of the few fatal occurrences 
cited, is that of Mr. Jesse Fish, Jun. who was found dead in 



64 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 

the fields, with his horse, after a violent storm, which he had 
endeavoured to avert by an umbrella with brass mounting, 
which it is confidently believed caused his death. 

The fogs and heavy dews known to exist periodically from 
south and south west winds on the rivers and their immediate 
banks, create fears in the minds of many ; yet it is as- 
certained beyond doubt, that wherever the sea breeze has free 
access, these are not prejudicial. Taking into view that St. 
Augustine and its maritime frontier has for the south the same 
character for salubrity which is allowed to Rhode Island in 
the north, the temperate man, whose chance is best in all 
climates, has a choice in the peninsula. Nor does it prove 
any thing against the healthiness of the former, that epide- 
mic; have prevailed; for the hand of Providence has some- 
times permitted them in the latter. 

Several authorities conspire to prove, what has been con- 
firmed by the personal observation of the author, that in 
addition to the common effects of air, in producing mould and 
rust, loaf sugar has been noticed to become damp in the stores 
of St. Augustine ; but this has never detracted, to his know- 
ledge, from the recognised salubrity of the place. 

The cultivation of the country, which is looked to as an 
early consequence of its cession to the United States, will 
have the effect of clearing it from the stagnated air in the 
woods, and from the exhalations arising from the ponds and 
freL-ii water marshes, which are most propitious to the culture 
of iice and indigo; but are said to be injurious to the health of 
those engaged in them. This, of course, merits the considera- 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 65 

tion of those who prefer health to wealth. Among other cir- 
cumstances corroborative of the purity of the atmosphere, 
may be traced the common way of drying beef and fish in 
the sun, without salt, and the constant attendance of the in- 
numerable turkey buzzards, who stand ready to remove any 
carrion or other obnoxious matter; and, in some instances, an- 
ticipate the grasp of death to the dying animal, by giving the 
coup de grace to its eyes. 

Nothing can contribute more to salubrity than pure and 
wholesome water, and this is to be found more in the springs 
than in the wells of St. Augustine, where the water is in 
some places brackish, and requires filtering. 

Although these provinces afford allurements, in point of soil 
and climate, to the careful and temperate resident, yet the author, 
whose fortunate resistance for many years to the effects of 
warm climates may perhaps entitle him to an opinion found- 
ed on personal experience, would recommend an occasional tour 
to the northern states, and thus guard against dysenteries, 
asthmas, and pleurisies, which sometimes attack those who 
expose their constitutions too freely to the alternate heats of 
noon day and dews of midnight. 

Mr. Volney, justly celebrated for his writings and travels, 
as well as for his assiduous researches into the character of 
the climate of this vast American continent, makes the fol- 
lowing remarks : — "Were I obliged," says he, " to select the 
most favourable spot in America as the place of my abode, my 
choice would fall upon the southern point of Rhode Island, or 
the south-west chain in Virginia, between the Roanoke and 
the Rappahannock. In the western country, I should prefer 

9 



66 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 

to live, a hundred years hence, on the margin of Lake Erie, 
for then it will not,, as now, be infested with fevers. At pre- 
sent, if my choice were guided by the reports of travellers, it 
would fix upon those highlands of Florida and Georgia which 
are to windward of the nearest marsh. Intermittents are en- 
demial in all low situations. Thus we see, in all the pro- 
vinces to the southward, particular places remarkable for a. 
continuance of disorder in them. A remedy is recommended 
composed of the bark of the root of the magnolia major, which 
the French on the Mississippi substitute in lieu of Jesuit's 
bark, with Virginia heart, snake root, rue sal absynth, and 
pink root, in good wine, avoiding a too great exposure to the 
frequent sudden changes of air. They ought to use the cold 
bath often, wear camphor and garlic in their pockets, not ex- 
pose themselves to rain, and above all keep warm and dry feet, 
and if got wet by rain, not to change their clothes too sudden- 
ly ; never go out of a morning fasting, but before you go to 
work, business, &c. eat a piece of bread, and drink a glass of 
the bitter infusion; avoid the night air in the rooms, espe- 
cially in the bed rooms, which ought never to be on a lower 
floor, and should be in the eastern parts of the building, ex- 
posed to the morning sun. By observing these rules, the 
constitution of the human body will be less disposed to receive 
the impressions of a bad air." 

The following is an extract of a letter from the late Denys 
RoUe, Esq. father to the present Lord Rolle, the founder of 
RoUe's town on the St. Johns, dated Tuderly, 1st September, 
1756. 

" The enjoyment of the trade wind passing over the pe- 
ninsula, is not felt elsewhere. 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 67 

*' This wind I was extremely sensible of in my journey to 
St. Marks, on the Bay of Mexico, in May, wfeere 1 came to 
the high land ofth&Latehway, first Indian town from any set- 
tlement, w. N. w. when this wind was rather disagreeably cold 
in that otherwise warm month. This being the highest land 
between the two seas, it received less obstruction from the 
woods : when these are more cleared, every part will enjoy 
it. Every thing in nature seems to correspond towards the 
cultivation of the productions of the whole world in some 
part or other of this happy province, the most precious jewel 
of his Majesty's American dominions." 

The following Thermometrical Observations are extracted 
from Ellicot's Journal, made at Point Peter, on the St. 
Mary's. 

[The second column shows the state of the Thermometer at sunrise, the 
last its range throughout the day.] 
1799. 
Dec. 15 Cloudy. 

^6 51 67 Cloudy at P. M. and so all night. 

17 57 70 Heavy rain all night. 

18 56 64 Cloudy, with rain all P. M. and night. 

19 55 69 Heavy fog A. M. flying clouds all day, 

and rain at niffht. 

20 60 58 Cloudy all day, fine rain A. M. and a 

heavy rain at night. 

21 59 54 P. M. cloudy, with heavy rain most of the 

day, wind N. W. at night. 

22 54 55 Cloudy A. M. and in the evening. 

23 54 56 Cloudy all last night, and this day, with 

fine rain. 



68 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 

Dec. 24 34 54 

25 30 51 

26 41 49 Cloudy all day and night. 

27 50 64 

28 80 80 Cloudy A. M. 

29 67 63 Heavy rain great part of the day, S. W. 

wind violent. 
1800. 

Jan'y 1 28 54 Scattering clouds. 

2 54 54 Heavy rain, wind N. E. 

3 39 53 

4 36 54 

5 36 36 Cloudy all day. 

6 34 61 

7 38 38 Ditto. 

8 40 48 

9 38 42 Rain part day, and rain with hail evening. 

10 37 40 Snow and hail the whole day. 

11 28 40 Snow 5 inches deep. 

12 34 67 Cloudy great part of the day. 

13 46 57 Cloudy all day. 

14 40 62 Do. 

15 42 61 Cloudy in the evening. 

16 45 67 

17 64 42 Cloudy morning, shower at 11 A. JVI. 

18 38 58 

19 37 54 

The following are Ellicot's observations at Apalachicola. 
1799. 

Aug. 23 91 P. M. 



27 


74 


96 


28 


74 


96 


29 


80 


93 


30 


74 


95 


31 


76 


93 


Sept. 1 


74 


94 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 69 

^ug. 24 75 91 

25 74 88 

26 76 85 Shower of rain at noon, heavy rain P. M. 
winds from all quarters. 



The evening distressing, atmosphere, 
hazy and suffocating, until 8 o'clock, 
when light breeze from E. which cor- 
rected the atmosphere. 



2 75 90 Cloudy part of the afternoon. 

3 73 91 Cloudy great part of the day and night. 

4 76 89 Cloudy all the afternoon and night. 

5 74 87 Several showers of rain in the course of 

the day, thundergust P. M. 

6 73 89 Sky remarkably blue, fine clear morning. 

7 73 86 Shower at day break, cloudy great part 

of the day, little rain, 

8 73 87 Shower at day break and P. M. 

9 74 90 Thick fog till 8 A. M. 

10 71 82 Foggy. 

11 74 91 Cloudy all the afternoon, with a little rain. 

12 74 89 Thundergust at noon. 

13 76 91 

14 74 91 Cloudy part of the afternoon. 

15 72 92 

16 76 96 Ditto. 

From the above thermometrical observations, the reader is 
led to the following conclusions : that the thermometer was 



70 SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 

at Point Petre on St. Mary's, from December 14th, 1799, to 
January 19th, 1800, from 25 44 the lowest, to 67 highest, and 
on one day, the 28th, at 80. 

That from the 23d of August to the 16th of September, 
1799, it was at Apalachicola, of parallel latitude with Point 
Petre, at sunrise, from 71 lowest average, to 82, and from 80 
at sunrise to 93 highest. 

Some have calculated that the mercury ranges between 84 
and 88 degrees in the shade, where a free ventilation exists., 
and that it never sinks below 30, and that water does not 
freeze south of 27 and 30 north lat. whereas Mr.ElIicot states, 
that on his return from his western survey, in West Florida, 
he observed on the 30th November, 1 799, ice formed on the 
decks of his vessel when in the Florida Keys. 

From the information obtained by Mr. Darby on the sub- 
ject of climate in this country, he says that the thermometer 
ranges from 78 to 92 in summer, and from 40 to 70 in winter. 

In farther illustration of the mildness and uniformity of 
temperature in the peninsula, it may be satisfactory to look 
to the observations of professional men of former times, as 
well as to those of the present day, alike respectable ; of 
these latter, are the reports from the surgeons of the Uni- 
ted States' army, ordered to take constant and regular ob- 
servations, which Dr. Lovell, the surgeon general, has very 
judiciously caused to be published, for public benefit, and 
of which the following is an extract from those taken at 
Amelia Island, in lat. 30 45, long. 81 37 west, where the 
thermometer stood in the three first months of 1820: 



SITUATION AND CLIMATE. 



71 



1820. 



Highest degree. Lowest degree. 



In January, 
In February, 
In March, 



vii 

63 


ii 

79 


ix 

59 


66 


78 


70 


68 


78 


70 



vii 

35 


ii 

44 


is 

39 


50 


59 


55 


50 


62 


55 



Mean temperature. 



vii 


ii 


ix 1 


51 


35 


60 


83 


54 


16 


60 


51 


69 


62 


64 


20 


60 


19 


71 


77 


60 


70 



In January, 
In February, 
In March, 



Hottest days. 



Monday, 

Thursday, 

Tuesday, 



Coldest days. 



Wednesday,! 12 
Tuesday, 1 
Friday, |l0 



Winds. 



Days in 
January, 
February, 
March, 



IZi 


^ 

^ 




W 


C/3 


C/3 


C/2 


^ 




3 


2 


15 


2 


2 




5 


2 


NE 


1 


3 


2 


5 


6 


3 


5 


4lSE| 




6 


8 


2 


7 


1 


4 


3 


NEl 





Weather. 




is 




a 
'S 


1 


> 


18 


7 6!— 


fair 


26 


— 3 — ■ 


fair 


23 


3 


5 


— 


fair 



72 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C« 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SOIL, AND 
PRODUCTIONS. 



The river St. Mary's, which forms at present the northern 
l>oundary of East Florida, is navigable for sixty miles hy 
vessels of one hundred and sixty tons. 

This fine river, well known by the citizens of the United 
States, takes its rise in a large swamp, or lake, called Qua- 
kaphanake, lying between the Flint and Ochemulgee rivers, 
and enters by a channel, giving twenty feet at high water, be- 
tween Cumberland Island, recognised by the handsome seat 
belonging to the heirs of General Greene, and Amelia Island. 
It is about a mile in breadth at its mouth; whence it takes a di- 
rect course to Point Petre ; here it is intersected by Joly and 
Belle rivers, and assumes, soon after, a southerly bend, ex- 
tending to within a mile of a well laid-out town of the same 
name. Afterwards, it takes a serpentine course for several 
miles, giving rise to a small branch, called Little St. Mary's. 
It has a current of fine clear water, much admired for its puri- 
ty and wholesomeness. 

The land on each side of this river is of good quality. It 
is not equal, however, to the tracts farther south for the rais- 
ing of cotton, rice, and provisions. The pasturage is fine j 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 73 

and there are some excellent mill seats, which are improved 
to much advantage hy Major Clark and others. Some good 
crops of black seed cotton have been raised thirty miles up, 
on fine land, which can be rendered very productive. Forty 
miles up is the military post of Traders' Hill, or Fort Alert, 
remarkable for its salubrious situation, and for its having been 
the barrier to Indian incursions, as well as a check upon the 
smugglers trading between the American and Spanish territo- 
ries. This fort was established in 1812, and has been much 
improved. 

The abundance of cane swamp, live oak, and cedar, gives 
a character to the soil, worthy of attention. 

A few miles from Trader's Hill, passes the great road from 
Fort Bari'ington to St. Augustine, made in 1765, by the sub- 
scription of sevei'al public-spirited gentlemen ; among whom 
were Governors Grant and Moultrie, Messrs. Forbes, Fish, 
Izard, Pinckney, Gerard, Walton, Manigault, Oswald, Huger, 
Henry, Laurens, Elliot, Murray, and others, names well 
known throughout America. 

South from St. Mary's, is the island oi Amelia, more known 
of late years than any other part of Florida, as well to com- 
mercial men as to politicians : — To the former, from the access 
had to it, during the embargo by the United States, in 1808, 
and the war of 1812, during which there were generally in 
port upwards of 150 sail of shipping of all nations and flags, 
carrying on an immense transit trade, more favourable to 
those concerned in it than honorable to the governments un- 
der whose auspices it was fostered :-And to the latter, from its 

10 



74 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

contiguity to the United States, and serving as a resort for ad- 
venturers of every kind, and for every purpose. 

From these circumstances arose the town of Fernandina. 
Previous to this it had hut a few huts erected about a mile 
south from the point on the west side. Formerly it was re- 
markable only for some wells dug by the English, for the pur- 
pose of supplying their cruizers with water ; which, however, 
they preferred taking from St. Mary's River, when con- 
venient. 

The harbour is spacious, and secure against the eastern 
gales, and may be rendered effectually so against an enemy 
in time of war. For this purpose, and that of commerce, as 
well as from its contiguity to the Bahama passages, it is en- 
titled to much consideration. 

The town consists of about forty houses, built of wood, in 
six streets, regularly intersecting each other at right angles, 
having rows of trees {Pride of India) and a square, with a 
small fort of eight guns, fronting the water. Several of these 
houses are two stories high, with galleries, and form a hand- 
some appearance. In the rear, at a distance between the 
town and sea, is a thick wood of large oak ; and s. e. from it 
is a handsome scite, known as M'Clure's Hill, which, com- 
mands the town, and is nearly peninsulated by a marsh. 
It was in this harbour that the British men of war and large 
transports rendezvoused for the purpose of evacuating East 
Florida, in March 1784. 

The island is fifteen miles in length, and nearly three 
in its greatest breadth. It has much good land, well adapted 
to the culture of cotton. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 75 

The planters reside principally on the western skirt of the 
island, and are doing well, while the inhabitants of the town 
of Fernandina (about 150 in number) are in a depressed 
state ; many of them depending upon the bounty of the go- 
vernment of the United States for the means of subsistence, 
and all looking to the cession of the province with hopes of 
an ameliorated condition. On the score of health it would 
be soon improved by draining the ponds in the neighbour- 
hood ; or by making them accessible to the salt water, and 
influenced by the tides. 

The navigation through the Narrovfs, for vessels drawing 
more than four feet, is intricate towards Jsfassau River, which 
lies eighteen miles south of St. Mary's. From the confluence 
of several small rivers it forms itself into one of considerable 
depth for twenty -five miles westward, promising at some dis- 
tance from it mouth, much advantage in excellent lands, with 
an abundance of pine and water, for lumber cutters and rice 
planters. Some of these, however, are subject to inundations 
in wet seasons. It is the only river in the province that runs, 
like St. Mary's, transversely. The bar at Nassau Inlet has 
eight feet water at low tide, and separates Amelia from 
Great and Little Talbot klands, both small, but fertile. Next 
to these comes the Island of Fort George, named so from a 
fort being built on it by General Oglethorpe in his attack on 
Florida. This fine island was once in the possession of John 
M'Queen, Esq. of Georgia, and afterwards much improved 
by John Houston M'Intosh, Esq. ; and is now in the posses- 
sion of Kingsley, Esq. whose property is much increased 

in value. 



76 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &:C. 

Near this is an eligible spot for a fortification to command 
the entrance into the St. Johns. This is worthy the atten- 
tion of government, when it considers the resources the na- 
tion will, before long, derive from the settlement of the 
country to which that river leads. 

The St. Johyi's is thirty-six miles south of St. Mary's, and 
is the principal river in East Florida. In point of commer- 
cial and agricultural importance, as well as grandeur of 
scenery, it is likely to become second to none in North 
America, except the Mississippi. Its source is not exactly 
ascertained •, but no doubt soon will be, by actual survey. 

The Indians report, that canoes passed from the Atlantic, 
by this river, to the Gulf of Mexico, through lakes Dun, 
George^ and Mayaco : should this be incorrect, it would re- 
quire, at all events, but a small distance of canal to connect 
that Gulf with the Atlantic. The anchorage on the outside 
of St. John's bar is good ; but the bar is an obstacle to enter- 
ing the river, which, however, will no doubt be removed, 
in time, by the ingenuity and industry of its new masters. 
It lies in lat. 30 17, and is known by the high sand hill 
on the south cape, called General's Mount. It admits vessels 
drawing ten feet, and at high water those drawing thirteen 
feet, and carries them up 150 miles, as far as Lake George. 
Captain Mulcaster, of the British engineers, says, he sounded 
the bar himself, and found nine feet at low water. The 
whole length of the river is computed to be upwards of 300 
miles, and it has a great number of tributary streams, many 
of which may be navigated by small craft. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 77 

From the sea this splendid river takes a course westward, 
alternately presenting along its whole length a variety 
of bluffs and levels worthy of notice by the traveller 
as he ascends it. On the north side branches out a 
creek called The Sisters, from two hammocks, or small islands, 
resembling each other, and so near as to leave a passage 
only for small vessels. On the south, at a small distance 
from its mouth, runs the river Pablo, by some called Pablo 
Creek, which takes a southern course, parallel with the sea 
for several miles, when it is intersected by Diego Plains. Its 
communication with St. P^Iarks, or the North Paver, might be 
effected by a ditch, or canal, of five or six miles, thus con- 
tinuing the conveyance by water from Charlestown to St. Au- 
gustine. 

Oak timber, with which this country abounds, has been 
furnished in considerable quantities from this quarter for the 
construction of ships for the navy of theUnited States. 

The land in the neighbourhood of Pablo is held in such 
high estimation, that many productive settlements have been 
made, and are now making. The plantation of Mr. John 
Forbes, on which Messrs. Fatio and Fleming now work their 
hands, and those of Don Bartolo, Messrs. Fitch & Chairs, 
and Mrs. Baker, are the most conspicuous. 

No part of the country comes more generally into no- 
tice than this, from its presenting some of the largest set- 
tlements on the present route from the United States to 
the capital of the province. 

Diego Plains afford the most luxuriant pasture for cattle, 



78 • TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

which thrive there wonderfully ; the mast for hogs is very 
abundant, and the wild cabbage is found in immense quan- 
tities in the adjoining swamp. 

The extensive view of meadow, afforded by the open 
plains, exhibits a vast expanse of perpetual verdure, inter- 
spersed with clusters of small copped trees, surrounding 
cabbage swamps ; the sea in front to the east, and an in- 
termediate line of sand iiiils in the rear, to the west, treat 
the eye to the most picturesque prospect imaginable. 

On the south side of the St. Johns, a few miles 
from the sea, is a bluff called by some Oglethorpe's, 
or Hubert's, on which a small town v/as settled by 
the British, in 1779, who were doing considerable busi- 
ness there until the evacuation, when it fell into 
ruins, from which it has never recovered. On the im- 
portant subject of settling a town on this river, to be- 
come, perhaps, the most commercial, if not the metropo- 
lis of the territory, the conflicting interests of specu- 
lators and land proprietors will clash so much with the va- 
rious claimants, that no correct opinion can be formed. 

The single hand of government could be applied with 
more successful effect and general utility in promoting such 
a desirable object by timely direction, or early arrangement, 
than the projects of a hundred monopolizing lairds multi- 
plied in a ten-fold degree. 

The Cowford, so called from the number of cattle which 
crossed that part of the river, where it is more than a mile 
wide, comes next into noticel The water is here brackish 
in dry seasons ; but in wet seasons it is drinkable. It is 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 79 

twenty-eight miles from the bar, and serves to this day as a 
ferry for the main, called the King's road, from fort Bar- 
rington to St. Augustine, which, with little regulation and 
enterprize, can be made serviceable to the public. As to 
j soil, although sandy, it is here very good. The shores are 
level and shoal, extending in some places, where it is three 
miles wide, one or two miles into the river. 

In other parts of the river, there are bluffs, from twelve to 
fifteen feet perpendicular height from the surface. While 
contemplating the beautiful scenery which the shores of this 
river present, from the stately appearance of the magnolias, the 
cypress, the oak, and the pine trees, the appetite may be gra- 
tified by the greatest variety of choice fish, with which its 
waters abound; such as the sheep's-head, mullet, trout, bass, 
drum, sturgeon, garr, stingrays and cat ; fresh water trout are 
frequently caught near the sea, while higher up the river, by 
an inadvertent change of position, travellers are regaled with 
those of the sea. Oysters and shrimps are also in great abun- 
dance, near the mouth of the river, and of the most delicious 
kind ; to these should be added the store crab, surpassing the 
lobster in flavour, delicacy, and substance. 

The Cattle Ford, says Bartram, has below it a marsh on both 
sides, with high oak banks. At William'^s Point, out of 
which issue several little springs, the water is pretty deep. 
Near these is Forbes'' Bluff, where a sort of rush grows, to 
bottom chairs, or to make mats ; it is better than the com- 
mon three square or bull-rush. This bluff has been very 
productive, being covered with oyster shells, on which the 
Florida Indians, near the sea coast, chiefly subsisted. He 



80 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

farther states, that St. Johns is, indeed, a curiosity among ri- 
vers. It rises at a small distance from the lagoon, called In- 
dian River, somewhere in, or near, the latitude of 27 ; per- 
haps out of Lake Mayaco, which, I have reason to believe, 
really exists, and is the head of the river »S^ Lucia, as I was 
told by a credible Spanish hunter, who had been carried there 
by the way of this last river. From its source, it runs through 
wide extended plains and marshes till near the latitude of 28, 
where it approaches the lagoon. It then continues its course, 
with a considerable current, northward, and glides through 
five great lakes, all of which are very pleasant. Endless 
orange groves are found here ; and, indeed, in all parts of 
the country. Below these the river grows wider, loses its 
current, and has in some places none ; in others, a retrograde 
one ; and lower down, it runs again in its true direction. 
The banks are very poor land, and exhibit in a number of 
places sad monuments of the folly and extravagant ideas of 
the first European adventurers and schemers, and the villany 
of their managers. The tide does not affect the river very 
far up. In many places, some extraordinary springs are 
found, which, at a small distance from it, on both sides, rush 
or boil out of the earth, at once becoming navigable for small 
boats, and from twenty -five to forty yards wide. Their course 
is seldom half a mile, before they meet the river. Their 
waters are so clear, as to enable one to see a small piece 
of money at the depth of ten feet or more. They smell 
strong of sulphur ; and whatever is thrown into them 
soon becomes encrusted with a white fungous matter, the 
taste of which is bituminous, and very disagreeable ; 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &;C. 81 

thej, in my opinion, cause the great cloudings we see on the 
surface of the water, and make it putrid and unwholesome. 

It will be perceptible to the traveller, that the eastern 
shores of this river exhibit traces of former cultivation, on 
account of its proximity to civilization on the Atlantic, while 
the western side exhibits more uniform views of the country 
in its pristine state of beauty, yet offering proportionate, 
if not greater, advantages to settlers. 

Picolati, on the east side of the river, twenty miles from 
St. Augustine, is remarkable for its ancient fort, built by the 
Spaniards, with a square tower thirty feet high, and a deep 
ditch around it, which is now partly filled up. The stone 
was brought from St. Anastatia Island. 

There is also, in continuation of the same route, on 
the opposite side. Fort Poppa, with a shallow intrenchment 
tw^enty yards square, and as many from the river. At a 
small distance back is another turret of the same size, and 
some groves of orange trees, and oaks of large size. 

Farther south is Charlotia or Rollestozon, a village settled 
by Dennys Rolle, Esq., father to the present Lord Rolle, 
who, having obtained from the British government a grant 
of 40,000 acres of the best land he could find in the Flo- 
ridas, embarked from England, in 1765, with a hundred 
families, intending to proceed with them to West Florida ; 
but making St. Johns, selected this spot, and Dunn's Lake. 
His settlement at the former place, after incurring a 
vast expense, was abandoned, owing to the bad manage- 
ment of his agents. 

11 



82 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SiC. 

Mount Hope, so called bj Mr. John Bartram, is a high 
shelly bluff on the little lake, near a fine orange grove, 
afterwards settled as an indigo plantation. He farther says, 
that from Mount Royal, (formerly Keari's place,) there is 
an enchanting prospect of the great Lake George through 
a grand avenue, as a narrow reach of the river may be 
termed, widening gradually for about two miles towards its 
entrance into the lake. Near the landing stands a mag- 
nificent Indian mount, and a highway leads from it three 
fourths of a mile, through an orange and live-oak groves, 
terminating by one of palms and magnolia, on the verge of an 
oblong artificial lake. The highway is fifty yards wide. 

On approaching the capes you see Lake George, a 
large and beautiful body of water. It is oval in its 
form, twenty miles long and fifteen wide, and about twenty 
feet deep, except at the entrance, where the bar has only 
ten or twelve feet. Here are several small islands, mostly 
high land, well timbered and fertile : one of them is an en- 
tire orange grove, with grand magnolias and palms. On one 
of them there was, among many curious shrubs, the lantana, 
of most agreeable scent ; and the whole is ornamented with 
the most variegated scenery. Higher up the river on the 
east side, is Little Lake, which is bordered by extensive 
marshes to the east, and high forests and orange groves on 
the opposite side. 

The settlements, previous to the evacuation by the British, 
did not extend far up the St. Johns. The most conspicuous 
of these, not already mentioned, were Mr. Fatio's New Swit- 
zerland, Mr, Levett's JuUanton, Beresford's, Mr. Marshall's 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &€. Ii3 

Satonia, Mr. Penman's Jericho, Gov. Tonyn's, Captain Bis- 
sett's, Messrs. Egan's, Spalding's, Forbes', Miller's, Box's, 
Pot's, Gray, and Yeilovvley's. These are all handsome es- 
tablishments. 

Having, according to the best information in our possession, 
proceeded as far up the St, Johns as there were plantations 
known during the last century, it becomes necessary to take 
the tour of the sea coast, and carry the reader back to the 
beautiful view which Diego Plains afford, on the way from 
St. Johns to St. Augustine ; in pursuing which, you meet 
with cabbage swamps, and much good land a small dis- 
tance from these plains, at the head of the North River, 
where there were some settlements, that formerly produced 
excellent indigo. This river is navigable for small craft, 
and would be much improved, as continuing the inland com- 
munication by water, if a canal or ditch was cut from it to 
Pablo Creek, a distance of only five miles. This is an object 
of vast importance to travellers, as well as to the residents of 
the country ; both would no doubt cheerfully contribute, to- 
ward effecting it; and most probably, upon a proper represen- 
tion of the advantages in a national point of view, the gene- 
ral government would apply a fund for the purpose of com- 
pleting the chain of internal communication with the southern 
frontier, which, in case of war, would become highly impor- 
tant. The settlements at present on the road, or those to be 
seen from the river, are not of much consequence, and offer 
very little for the agricultural tourist, until you meet with a 
large tract of low hammock, known as the Twelve-mile Swamp, 
running parallel with the coast about ten miles from St. 



84 TOWNS, RIVERSj LAKES, &C* 

Johns, and at the distance of between three and lour 
from the sea. This swamp is of considerable extent, and has 
been the subject of high estimation, which draining w^ould 
render of incalculable advantage for planting cotton or the 
sugar cane, the soil being a vegetable mould in layers of va- 
i'ious depths, loosely strewn upon a foundation of clay and 
marl. 

It is common, when travelling near the sea, to hear a hol- 
low sound, proceeding from the footsteps of the horse, which 
tends to confirm an opinion, in which some indulge, thai 
there are in Florida subterraneous rivers. 

A few miles from St. Johns are the remains of FortMossa, 
at which the advanced guard of General Oglethorpe's force, 
was surprised, by a sortie from the town, and tended 
much to the discomfiture of that General's projects upon the 
garrison, which is treated of in another part of these Sketches. 

From hence a handsome view of Fort St. Marks, the con- 
vent and church, may be had as you approach, either by 
land or water, the old town of St. Augustine, which comes 
next under our notice. 

St. Augustine, the capital of East Florida, is one of the most 
ancient towns on the continent of North America, and was 
discovered on the 28th of August, 1564, from whence its 
name is derived. Don Pedro deValdez and Juan de St. 
Vicente were four days on the coast after its discovery, look- 
ing out by day, and anchoring by night, uncertain by whom it 
was peopled. On landing, a grand Te Deum was sung, with 
great solemnity. It hes in lat. 29 45 N. and long. 81 30 W. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C, 85 

with its north-eastern extremity open to the sea, at the dis- 
tance of three miles from it. 

This town, built in the Spanish manner, forms an oblong 
square, or parallelogram ; the streets are regularly laid out ; 
but the buildings have not been put up to conform strictly to 
that rule. The streets are generally so narrow as to admit 
with difficulty carriages to pass each other. To make up for 
this inconvenience, they have a terrace foundation ; and be- 
ing shaded, renders the walking very agreeable. The houses 
are built generally of a free stone peculiar to the country, 
Avhich, with the aid of an outer coat of plaister, has a hand- 
some and durable effect. They are only two stories high, of 
thick walls, with spacious entries, large doors, windows and 
balconies ; and a garden lot to each, most commonly stocked 
with orange and fig trees, interspersed with grape-vines and 
flowers. 

On entering this old town from the sea, the grandeur of 
the castle of Fort St. Mark's presents itself, and imposes a 
degree of respect from travellers, upon seeing a fort, forty 
feet high, in the modern taste of military architecture, com- 
manding the entrance. It is of a regular quadrangular form, 
with four bastions, a wide ditch, a covered way, a glacis, a 
ravelin to defend the gate, places of arms, casemated and 
bomb-proof, with a water battery next to the sea. 

The works are entirely of hewn stone, of a calcareous na- 
ture, and peculiar to the country, bronzed and squamated by 
age, and will, with some American ingenuity, be justly deem- 
ed one of the handsomest in the western hemisphere. It 
mounts sixty guns, of twenty-four pounds, of which sixteen 



88 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &e. 

are brass, and is calcuJated to contain one thousand men for 
action ; with which, and the courage such a fort should in- 
spire, it is capable of a noble defence, having, in old times, 
resisted some formidable attacks. It is not liable to be shat- 
tered by balls ; nor does it expose its defenders to the fatal ef- 
fects of storm. 

From the Fort, southwardly, are the remains of a stone 
wall, touching its glacis, built to prevent the encroachment of 
the sea; along this is a very pleasant walk, as far as the 
market place, which is opposite to the old government house 
in the centre of the town, and separated by an oblong square, 
called the parade ; on which there is a Roman Catholic 
church of modern construction, and quite ornamental. In 
front of this there formerly stood a handsome and spacious 
edifice, built in modern style, by Lieut. Governor Moultrie, for 
a State-house, which was not completed. For want of an ex^ 
terior coat of plaister, it has crumbled to pieces, leaving 
not a single vestige of its former splendour. The old go- 
vernment house, now much decayed, is occupied as a bar- 
rack for the royal artillery. It leaves the marks of a 
heavy pile of buildings, in the Spanish style, having balconies 
in front, galleries and areas on both sides, with several irregu- 
lar additions, well contrived for the climate. Among these 
was a look-out, built by Governor Grant, on the western sum- 
mit of the main building, which commanded a full view of the 
sea coast, and the surrounding country. 

The garden attached to the government house is surround- 
ed by a stone wall 5 it was formerly laid out Avith great taste, 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 87 

and stocked with most of the exotic and indigenous plants, 
common to the tropics and the middle states ; such as the 
potnegranite, plantain, pine apple, papua, olive and sugarcane; 
which is at once demonstrative of the fertility of the soil, and 
the mildness of the climate. 

From the parade, environed by orange trees, the streets 
extended southwardly to some large stone buildings, one of 
which formerly was a Franciscan convent, now converted 
into a jail ; but under the British government it was used as 
barracks. In addition, a very handsome range, four stories 
high, vv'as constructed of wood, and of materials brought from 
New York, and intended for Fensacola ; but was detained 
by Governor Grant. These barracks, at the southern ex- 
tremity of the peninsula, in which the town is built, formed 
an elegant appendage to it, but were burnt, and now exhibit 
only the stacks of chimneys, of which the bricks appear as 
perfect as they did half a century past, notwithstanding their 
constant exposure to wind and weather. 

In a course westward from these vestiges of royalty, are 
streets leading to a bridge,formerly of wood, but now of stone, 
crossing a small creek, running parallel with the sea, on the 
east side, and St. Sebastians on the west : over this are seve- 
ral valuable and highly improved orange groves, and several 
redoubts, forming the south and western hnes of fortification. 

Near this bridge, in the same street with the government 
house, is the burying ground of the protestants, where stood 
an episcopal church, with a handsome steeple, of which not 
a vestige remains. 

Before the entry of some of the houses, built by the Spa- 



88 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

niards, rises a portico of stone arches ; the roofs of these are 
commonly flat. There are nearly one thousand houses of all 
descriptions in the town, which is about three quarters of a 
mile in length, and one quarter in breadth. As it is built 
upon a point of land, it is, in some degree, peninsulatedby the 
conflux of Matanza River, and St. Sebastian's Creek, by which 
means the egress by land must be by the northern gates, and 
by a bridge and causeway in a western direction ; the whole 
forms a very picturesque piece of scenery, being surround- 
ed by orange groves and kitchen gardens. 

Within the first line was a small settlement of Germans, 
with a church of their own, upon St. Marks River : within the 
same line, was an Indian town, with a church also : but it is 
much to be regretted that nothing of these remains, as they 
served, if not as temples, certainly as ornamental relics. 
The governor has given the lands belonging to this township 
as <rlebe lands to the parish church, which will no doubt be 
confirmed by the American government, in its liberal appro- 
priations for religious purposes. 

Although there is a great deal of sandy soil in the neigh- 
bourhood of St. Augustine, which may give it the appearance 
of being the worst in the province, yet, it is far from being 
unproductive; for it bears two crops of Indian corn some 
years, and garden vegetables always in great perfection : 
among these is the artichoke. The orange and lemon trees 
grow here without cultivation, to a larger size, and produce 
better fruit, than in Spain and Portugal. 

The harbourof St. Augustine would be one of the best in Ame- 
rica, but for the bar; which, however, admits vessels drawing not 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &Ci 89 

more than six feet with safety. In common with other bars 
on the eastern shore of East Florida, it is regulated hj the 
winds. A strong west wind will make but six feet, and an 
east wind 1 2 feet of water at low tide. It is surrounded by 
breakers, which are not as dangerous as they appear to be, 
on account of the bar being short. As the spring tides afford 
more water, the port is approached with greater safety 
from March to November, than at other periods of the year, 
the stream between the Florida coast and the Bahama Isl- 
ands being very narrow. There is a roadstead on the north 
side of the bar, with good anchorage for such ships as draw 
too much water to enter the harbour, which is formed by a 
neck of land, on the north, and a point of Anastatia Island on 
the south. 

The island of Anastatia, opposite St. Augustine, is twenty- 
two miles in length, and separated from the town by Matanza 
river, which had an outlet at the southern extremity of the 
island, near the old fort of that name ; but this, report says, is 
now closed by the sands. This island, known as Fish's Isl- 
and, from the hospitality of Mr. Jesse Fish, one of the oldest 
inhabitants of the province, is remarkable for the date and 
olive trees, the flavour of the oranges, the cultivation of his 
garden, and for the appearance of the light house, where 
signals are made, by a company stationed by government, 
for the information of the inhabitants of St. Augustine. The 
light house also serves as a land-mark for vessels at sea. 
In this island is an excellent quarry of free stone, useful for 
building the houses in town. The stone is a concretion of 
small shells petrified. It is soft under ground, where it may 

12 



90 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SlC. 

be cut to mould, but becomes very hard and durable by be- 
ing exposed to the air. This island forms the northern 
boundary of that remarkable kind of stone ; it runs in simi- 
lar veins southwardly, along the coast of East Florida, 
spreading not more than three miles in any part. 

About ten miles south from St. Augustine, after pass- 
ing Sebastians, you come to Wood Cutter's Creek ; 
on the road to which was the handsome stone house 
and country seat of Lieut. Governor Moultrie, called, 
from its beautiful scite, Bella Vista. The lands at this plan- 
tation were highly improved, and consisted of very good 
swamp and highlands. Next to Wood Cutter's Creek, 
about twenty miles distant from the town, is Matanza Inlet, 
always very shoal in its approach to the main land, but 
abounding in fish, particularly of sheep's head and mullet. 
From Matanza, by means of rollers, a boat may be bawled 
over a small space of land into Halifax River, which runs, like 
it, parallel to the sea ; but its source, though certainly not 
far from St. Johns, is not well ascertained, although the land 
carnage to it is only four miles. Previous to coming to 
Musquito Inlet, Tomokee river falls into it : here Governor 
Moultrie also had a valuable rice plantation ; and Messrs. 
Bisset, Taylor, Penman, and M'Lean, had lands planted with in- 
digo. Near them, Mr. Oswald, one of the peace makers between 
the United States and Great Britain, had another valuable 
establishment, called Mount Oswald; the sugar cane was 
tried there, and the soil found most luxuriant and highly 
productive under the able management of Mr. Anderson, now 
of Georgetown, South Carolina. This valuable property has 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 91 

since become Mr. PerpalPs, one of the most respectable in- 
habitants of'St. Augustine. 

The river, from Mount Oswald, runs in a direct line south 
to the Pelican Islands, is from one to two miles wide, and 
navigable for small craft, having from four to five feet 
water; and from these islands to Mosquito bar along the Hali- 
fax, for six miles, it has from eight to ten feet water, the bar 
having seven feet at low water, and the tide flowing about 
six feet. 

Hillsborough Rher, flowing from the south, and Halifax 
river from the north, meet, and are both discharged into the 
sea. It is navigable for ten miles south, and presents at 
Smyrna a commodious and safe harbour, and is easy of ac- 
cess ; the bar has eight feet at low water. 

About Musquito Inlet, the country is low, and chiefly salt 
marsh ; the highlands are covered with the cabbage and 
papau trees, and various tropical plants. Three miles dis- 
tant from this is the Old Settlement by Dr. Turnbull, who, in 
1763, brought out from the Mediterranean 1,500 Minorcans, 
and with much trouble and expense began to cultivate the 
cane and the indigo plant ; some dissatisfaction prevailed, and 
these people retired to St. Augustine, where, from habits of 
industry, they improved the lands near the town, and became 
easy in their circumstances, and many of them happy and 
wealthy. 

At JVezu Smyrna, already mentioned, the remains of the set- 
tlement are evident by the stacks of chimneys, some boilers and 
other traces of the sugar works, and some wells of most excel- 
lent water. The old town was most eligibly situated on a high 



92 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

shelly bluff, having three sohd stone wharves, which a little re- 
pair would render of immediate service. There appears near 
this old settlement, a conflux of three rivers: on the north, Hah- 
faix ; on the south, Hillsborough ; and in the centre, running 
nearly west. Spruce Creek. The land in this quarter has 
always had the character of being rich, and adapted to the most 
advantageous culture. It is now owned, as has been stated, 
by Judge Hull. Messrs. Perpall, M'Hardy, Bethune, Stubbs and 
others, have plantations contiguous. There is in the rear of the 
town an extremely valuable hammock of level land, extending 
itself north and south about six miles in length, and about one 
half that in width, having an excellent assortment of timber. 
This part of East Florida will, in all probability, attract the 
southern planters, whose experiments in cotton have met with 
such unexampled success in the neighbouring states ; and 
whose resources will enable them to extend their agricultural 
pursuits to the more fertile tracts which will be found, for 
the purpose of raising sugar, improving the vine, and of at- 
tempting the cultivation of tea, coffee, and cocoa. If these 
latter can be produced in the North American Continent suc- 
cessfully, how happy must every American feel, in contem^ 
plating the advantages of so important a link in the chain of 
independence, as those luxurious products must afford ; and 
that, in any state of political commotion, they may be derived 
from their own soil. What is to prevent this, under our libe- 
ral and enlightened government, devoted to the happiness of 
its citizens of every class, without distinction ? To the indus- 
trious poorer classes, ease and competence can no where be 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 93 

more readily obtained. Corn, potatoes, and conti, (or arrow- 
.root,) are easily raised; and as to oysters and fish, they are so 
abundant that, as some writers have termed the Banks of New- 
foundland the kingdom of the latter, this may be considered 
the republic of both. Fish, says Romans, may be taken with 
pointed sticks in the lagoon of Aise, or Indian River. This 
river has nothing very remarkable ; the tide falls a foot and 
a half at the bar. It runs parallel with St. Lucia, (and in 
some parts, within two miles of it,) to latitude 27 20, where 
there is a mouth, or outlet into the ocean. This mouth can 
seldom be entered by any vessel that draws above six feet wa- 
ter. Before it, in the sea, are two bars : the inner one has 
about ten feet water in summer time, the outer one seven- 
teen. The latter is about four miles from land. 

The sand before this entrance, Romans says, is a fine white' 
quicksand, of si peculiar nature. He states that he anchored 
several times within three or four leagues of this mouth, and 
not above once or twice without having his cable eaten 
through in the ring of the anchor; sometimes he has preserv- 
ed the anchor by a single strand only. He had, at various 
times, lost six or seven anchors, and some large grapples, at 
this place ; yet there is no where any foul ground, or, in other 
words, rocky bottom, in the vicinity. He supposes that this 
fine quicksand, having sharp angles, by continual motion, chafes 
and frets the cable through, which is generally done in less 
than twenty-four hours. I have been informed, by more re- 
cent accounts, that the bar at this entrance has six feet water 
in winter, and ten feet in summer. 



94 TOWNS, HIVERS, LAKES, &G. 

The lands in this quarter have been held in high estimation 
for cotton, bearing hammock and live oak ; particularly by the 
surveyors and officers under the British and Spanish govern- 
ments, who took up considerable quantities. 

The period of rendering these lands productive will short- 
ly arrive, when the policy of European governments can no 
linger prohibit the cultivation of the plants just referred to, 
on account of its interfering with their parent or insular pos- 
sessions — when the vine and the olive will also thrive. Ham- 
mock lands, of vast extent, and great fertility, are met with from 
Indian River to the Cape ; particularly about Fresh River; 
and there is a tract of it tiiirty miles long on the banks of the 
Indian River. 

From this mouth of the lagoon an island stretches to about 
the latitude 26 55, where there is another mouth, or inlet, 
called Hobe, by the Spaniards ; and by the English, Jupiter, or 
Grenville. This island is thirty-nine statute miles long. Twen- 
ty-four miles from its north end, are several high cliifs, form- 
ed of blue stone ; these are the first rocks that lie high out of 
the water along the American beach. They are placed at 
about high water mark ; and a small ridge, or reef, runs off, 
sloping from the northernmost one. About nine miles further, 
towards Hobe, and also at its entrance, there are a number of 
other ridges, of very solid, hard rock ; all of which, particular- 
ly those most to the north, are excellent land-marks for sea- 
men going south. On the beach are always to be found a 
great number of pieces of Spanish cedar, originally cut for 
the use of his Catholic Majesty's ship-yards on the windward 
rivers of Cuba, but are driven, by land floods, into the Baha- 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SiC. 95 

Hia channel and Gulf Stream, whence the frequent east winds 
force them upon soundings, and so on this heach. Very few 
pieces are found either north or south of this. The island is 
indented onthe west side, almost regularly, into pointsand bays. 
Fresh water may be obtained by digging in almost any part 
of the beach. A few spots of hammock, or upland, are found 
on this island. During the season, the loggerhead turtles land 
here in vast multitudes, to lay their eggs ; which the bears, 
led by instinct, or otherwise, dig up. They are so expert at 
digging, that they sometimes make wells for their supply of 
water. They sometimes fell the wild pine, which, from its 
structure, generally contains a considerable quantity of rain 
water, preserved in a fresh sweet state. So vigilant are 
the bears, that the turtle seldom leaves her nest above a quar- 
ter of an hour before the eggs are eaten. If a traveller chooses 
any of this provision, he is obliged to watch the coming of the 
turtles. At times, when we had some of these eggs, I have seen 
the bears approach to within five or six yards of our camp ; but 
this stretch of boldness generally cost them their lives. 

About six miles from the mouth of Hobe on the edge of the 
sound, in a direction n. n. w. is a hill, called the Bleach Yard, 
from its appearing like white spots. This is a remarkable land- 
mark, and the first of any note on the coast from the hills of 
Neversink. 

From the mouth of the river south, the sound is cut into 
three branches, by means of two peninsulas of mangroves, 
divided by their lagoons, from the main island. The branch, 
which disembogues itself at Hobe, is shallow, and full of oys- 



96 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

ter banks ; it is about fourteen miles long, and admits vessels 
drawing five feet water. 

This inlet, like others on this coast, is subject to be closed, 
but is easily opened by a little digging, and thus affords an im- 
mediate and serviceable channel; it was shut for some time pre- 
vious to 1763, and subsequetly open for many years. Fertile 
land is found in less proportion in the interior of the peninsula^ j 
south than northerly. 

The coast from Hob^ to lat. 25 44 is all double land, or nar- 
row necks between the sea, having rivers and lagoons, some 
of which are fresh, with large bodies of improveable marsh 
,, land. 

Between Bald Mount and the Bleach Yard a Spanish ad- 
miral was in 1775 cast away with fourteen valuable ships. 
Report says, that after violent storms, pistareens have been 
frequently found on the beach, which were supposed to 
he part of their cargo. 

As the traveller leaves the parts of the province which 
were formerly cultivated by the British, uncertainty in the 
accounts as to the exact state of the interior >of the peninsula 
becomes greater, narrowing towards the southern points, 
which the Indians represent as impenetrable ; and the sur- 
veyors, wreckers, and coasters, had not the means of explor- 
ing beyond the borders of the sea coast, and the mouths of 
rivers. Romans' account, therefore, appears to be stamped 
with more authenticity than is derived from any other source 
that has met the public eye. St. Lucia River lies, according 
to Romans, one mile seventy -four chains and seventy links 
s, w. by s. from the Great Roclis, is fifty-four chains eighty- 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 97 

nine links wide, and six miles and a quarter n. n. w. from 
the Bleach Yard. The immense quantity of water coming 
down this river renders it very often quite fresh, although 
passing through a sound generally two miles wide. 

At the mouth of the river is a bay, into which runs a rivu- 
let from the south, called by Mr. De Brahm, Grenvilie River. 
He says, that a tract of land, laid out for Mr. Grenvilie, is of 
a singular white sand, which, from being covered with a large 
growth of all sorts of trees, indicating a fine soil, may be con- 
sidered a natural curiosity. Mangrove stumps are here seen 
in fresh water, a circumstance that cannot easily be ac- 
counted for. 

The importance of this river is described by Romans, in a 
manuscript in his own hand writing, which I here transcribe : 

On Sunday, 21st of May, 1769, at break of day, (being on 
board the schooner Betsey, on a survey for the General 
Southern Department,) found ourselves abreast of Fobe 
Rocks, to us known by the name of Hawlover, and saw the 
place to be much altered ; it having an outlet, we suggested 
immediately the sea had broken in ; upon which I went on 
shore, taking my Spanish Indian with me. On my arrival 
on shore, I carefully examined every place, but as it seemed 
to break across the mouth, 1 thought it of no consequence ; 
therefore gave no orders for the vessel to stop, and took no 
instruments in the boat. But I found a clear place to go in 
at the rocks on the north side, when I went in the boat over 
five and six feet water : I called it the Swash. I made then 
a horizontal cross, by which 1 took the angles as near as 

13 



98 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SiC. 

possible, having the course of the south beach for six or 
eight miles in view, I made that my artificial meridian, 
knowing the angle is cut with the true one, so making it the 
fundamental basis of my work ; being acquainted with this 
way, having been necessitated to do so on other occasions, 
and remembering a hint of Mr. De Brahm's, of his taking 
the plot of a camp, by help of a folded paper, much in the 
same manner. I dare say, I guessed within a degree the 
true position of every angle. In coming out, I found the 
widest channel was toward the south, and that there was a 
middle ground. I sounded out this, and found seven and 
eight feet, and ten to twelve close in, which last depth I 
found to continue within a boat's length of the beach, which 
was steep, and so very smooth that any boat may at most 
times land on it, as I then did, several times, in our very 
small one, for the purpose of looking for turtle eggs. It was 
half tide, the day after the spring, and the wind at n. w. 
Being in the river, I found that the fresh had forced its way 
out, and not the sea in ; which last circumstance I am con- 
firmed in opinion of, as I saw the colour of the water near 
the very bank to be that of our fresh rivers in this cli- 
mate ; when, as it is well known, that the true colour of 
our sea water here is a fine Saxon or celandon green, and 
that of this very place it is so, and so clear we saw the 
sandy bottom in five fathoms ; the whole position and face 
of the break appeared to me to be from within. Mr. 
Yonge told me he thought the place to be the identical 
spot where his camp was pitched in August last, 1768, 
which year was a most memorable one for rains and 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 99 



,j X,,XTX^*«^J ^AIX^KJ, 



freshes, not only throughout all our western continent, 
but even in Europe, and perhaps every where else. Thi« 
circumstance, together with the regular depth of the sea all 
along near it, cleanness of mouth, and steepness of the beach, 
makes me believe it will be no easy matter to close it again •, 
and this may be a good inlet for small vessels ; the river of 
St. Luz going a great way w. n. w., as the Indians informed 
me, to the Lake of Mayaco, the place is perhaps worth notice. 

This I certify, witness my hand, year and day above written. 
(Signed) R. B. Romans, d. s. 

I certify to have seen the Inlet above mentioned on the 
same day as in the above account is mentioned, I being on 
board of said vessel. 

(Signed) Charles Yonge. 

About fifty miles north of the southern point of the main 
land, the coast changes its course from s. s, e. to directly 
south ; and at the head land, occasioned by this, is a large 
hard blue rock on the beach, out of which a large stream of 
fine fresh water issues, gushing directly into the ocean ; there 
are four little inlets between this rock and latitude 25 35 ; 
one of these is not always open ; the last is in the north end 
of the first island, whose south end De Brahm has thought 
proper to call Cape Florida, although it is by no means 
a cape, or head land. West from this is the river Rat- 
tones, being a fine stream, and pretty considerable, with a 
little good rich soil on its banks, where many tropical plants 
grow; at its mouth are tbe remains of an Indian settlement. 



100 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

To the southward of this river, is a large body of marsh, ' 
through which several rivulets of fine water empty themselves 
into the ground, hack of the keys, which begin here. A man 
may at this place stand with one foot in fresh, and the other 
in salt water ; nay, when the tide is out, fresh water boils up 
through the sand. From this river, and marsh, the remainder 
of the land is a heap of stones and rocks, very sharp, and little 
water is to be found ; there being only a few ponds, and these 
are dry in a dry season. The only growth is shrubby pine. 
At Sandy Point, the southern extremity of the peninsula, are 
large old fields, being the lands formerly planted by Coloosa 
savages. In latitude 25 20, is a salt lake, and a remarkable 
isthmus, joining what was formerly Cayo Largo, or long key, 
to the main. Our researches for a passage west of the keys, 
have convinced us of its being joined to the main land. From 
the tapering shape of the continent approaching to the meri- 
dional extremity, the ground becomes more strong, and is in- 
terspersed with ponds or lakes. In the river Manatee is a 
considerable fall of rocks fourteen miles from its mouth. 
Above these falls the banks are very steep ; which causes the 
water to rise about fifty feet above its ordinary surface. 

Lake Mayaco is said by some to be seventy-five miles in 
circumference ; and by others, forty miles long and twenty- 
five wide; it hes near the River St. Johns, in a direction south 
from Lake George, Roman says he was told, by a Spanish 
pilot and fisherman of good credit, who was taken prisoner by 
the savages, and carried in a canoe by way of the River St. 
Lucia to their settlements, that on the banks of the Lake, at 
the disemboguing of the river, there lies a small cedar 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKKS, &C. 101 

island ; and that he saw the mouth of five or six rivers, but 
could not tell whether falhng out of, or into the lake. These 
were probably some of the many rivers he crossed, in tra- 
versing the peninsula ; perhaps the St. Johns, and the river 
in Charlotte Harbour, originate there. The savages add, that 
in going far south, they go round a large water emptying it- 
self into the Gulf of Mexico, 

It is this Lake, of such vast extent, which has in the opi- 
nion of some occasioned the intersected and mangled condi- 
tion in which the old maps represent the peninsula. 

From the growth of the mahogany trees, which are of large 
size, one of which stands as a prominent beacon, on the west- 
ern border of this magnificent Lake, and the reddish soil by 
which it is environed, much importance may be derived, by 
those who can overcome the aguish and debilitating effects 
of an atmosphere caused by such a vast body of water in 
such a latitude. 

The entry into this Lake from the eastward, by the River 
St. Lucia, and an egress from it, by the Delaware, and other 
streams westward, combine both agricultural and commercial 
advantages, which may be readily perceived by those disposed 
to settle in that quarter ; particularly if it is to form the grand 
central source of communication between the Atlantic and 
the Mexican Sea. 

It is stated with much confidence, that the waters of the St. 
Johns River are higher than those of the sea on either side ; 
and that this vast Lake commands the highest pitch of them, 
affording rapid currents to both. It is suggested, also, that 
this Lake derives its vast extent of water from springs, and 



102 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

a subterranean channel, originating in a fountain ift the north ; 
probably in the Alleghany Mountains. 

The importance of this part of the country, on a variety 
of accounts, claims every research which can be made: 
I shall therefore again recur to Romans, as preferable to 
more recent accounts ; the latter being contradictory. 

This southern end is a mere point of marsh, with some 
broken pine land in it, not much above three quarters of 
a mile wide, and divides the fresh water of St. John's from 
the salt of Aisa Hatcha. Imagine then to yourself a country 
gradually rising into a ridge of highland, very barren, sandy 
and gravelly, a few places excepted, intersected with abun- 
dance of rivulets, and variegated with ponds and lakes, whose 
banks being in general lined with oak, magnolia, and other 
trees, exhibiting the most romantic scene imaginable, and 
you will have a just idea of this place. We frequently 
meet with spacious savannahs of the high kind. The coun- 
try is covered with roe deer and turkeys, and the lakes 
are stocked with fish. It continues in a due west line 
across the Mexican Gulf to latitude 28, which strikes said 
Gulf fifteen miles northward of the bay of Spiritu Santo. 

In the southern parts of the peninsula, there is some land, 
which covers a stiff marly kind of clay, laying in some 
places within half a foot, or a foot of the surface ; in most of 
them it is found at the depth of three, four, or five feet, con- 
sequently not hard to come at. This kind of land is often 
very rocky ■, but especially from latitude 25 50, southward 
to the point, where it is a solid rock, a kind of hme stone, 
and covered every where with innumerable small, loose, 
and sharp stones. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 103 

From the river St. John's, southerly, to the point 
©f the peninsula, are to be seen high pyramidal mounts, 
with spacious and extensive avenues, leading from them, 
out of the town, to an artificial lake or pond of water ; 
these were ornaments, or monuments of magnificence, to 
perpetuate the power and grandeur of the nation, which 
could not have been an inconsiderable one, and must 
evidently have been designed for public edifices. 

Messrs. De Brahm and Romans, and Dr. Stork, have dis- 
agreed in many respects in relation to this country, particu- 
larly as to the southern extremity. Dr. Stork states, that 
the main on the west of Cape River, appears to be all 
high land, and is chiefly covered with cedar, oak, mulberry, 
and gum. Whereas Romans declares, that no such river 
as Cape River exists, which leads to a more probable con- 
clusion, that the country from Indian or Turtle River, to- 
wards Cape Florida, has not been much explored, and is sup- 
posed to be impassable, from marshes or swamps. It is con- 
fidently asserted that the Indians, in coming to the eastern 
coast to wreck, used to return by paths winding with the 
Cape. 

Without examining into the hypothesis of the Tegesta, it is 
a natural presumption, that owing to the agitation of the 
waters, which are driven against the southern extremity with 
continual violence, it is worn away, and divided into many 
islands, keys, and rocks, forming those reefs which are called 
under the general name of Martyrs and Pineriais ; but more 
particularly by the Spaniards under the names of Cayo Largo, 



104 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

Matacumbe el viejo, Matacumbe el mozo, Bivoras, SombrefOj 
Looe or Loop, or Soldiers Keys, or La Parida, Samboes, Are- 
na, Marques, Boca Grande, Js. de Mangles, Huesos, Samba, 
Js. de Pinos, Bohia honda, Tortugas. Of these Cayo Hue- 
sos, or West Key, deserves particular notice. It is about se- 
ven miles long and two wide, and is sixty miles from the Hava- 
na ; has a salt-pond, and some high ground calculated for for- 
tifications ; is susceptible of productive cultivation, and co- 
vered with timber. It has a small settlement. There is good 
harbour and anchorage for vessels of every class which 
may approach the beach, and the most ample protec- 
tion from every wind except s. or s. s. w. ; although Ro- 
mans, who mentions it as another good station for a small fri- 
gate, does not recommend it as so advantageous as some of 
the other islets. He adds, that the keys or markers are a 
heap of rocks, very few small spots on them being cultivated. 
Matacombe alone would be worth attention for a settlement ; 
all their productions are tropical ; not an oak to be found on 
any one of them, and pine trees on one only. But this reef 
and keys may be rendered serviceable in time of war, to any 
nation well acquainted with them. The reef begins in lati- 
tude 25 34, and the channel between it and the islands will 
admit a vessel drawing sixteen feet water. At the south end 
of Key Biscayno, in 25 27, according to Ellicot, is a good 
place for careening craft drawing ten feet. There is an excel- 
lent harbor, and good water for use. Even if the regular 
sources should fail, the rivulets in the grand marsh wall sup- 
ply any quantity for a ship of considerable force ; and her 
tender might here find an excellent station to cruise from, it 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 105 

being no more than fifteen leagues from the reef to the Bemi- 
nis, where there is hkewise water ; and on both shores plen- 
ty of fish and turtle. A vessel may lay on either side, in a 
harbour of ten feet water at least, in safety. It is worthy of 
notice, that a ship may lie with safety within the reef, on the 
Florida side : of what consequence this is in a place through 
which the Spaniards are obhged to send all their treasures, 
every one may judge. At Cayo Tabona, a large ship, even of 
sixty-four guns, may ride just within the reef, and her tender 
can always supply her with water, either from Matacomb^ or 
the marsh and key Biscayno. Few vessels can come through 
the gulf without seeing this place ; and it is generally the first 
land made by every sail after leaving the Cuba shore ; Sound 
Point, or Cape Florida, being just north of it. At this key, 
which presents a mass of mangroves, there w^ere lately about 
sixty Indians, and as many runaway negroes, in search of sub- 
sistence, and twenty-seven sail of Bahama wreckers. 

On the Looe, a frigate is said to have been cast away, from 
which it is supposed the name is derived ; some say its deri- 
vation is from Loup, which, in French, signifies w^olf. 

From the peculiar situation of these keys, and from the 
consequence attached to them by the Spaniards in their grants 
of them, little doubt can be entertained that instead of being 
haunts for Picaroons of all countries, they will be changed into 
the residence of some industrious people, and become, at no 
distant period, the Archipelago of the Western World. 

Mr. Ellicot, surveyor, in the service of the United States, 
having been directed to demarcate the boundary line between 
the United States and the Spanish possessions, in the year 

14 



106 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

1 800, was prevented from performing that duty from Apala- 
chicolabj land, owing to the warhke attitude assumed by the 
Indians, and was therefore obliged to proceed to St. Mary's 
by water. In doing this he visited the keys, and confirms the 
reports of the wreckers, and other passengers ; and his obser- 
vations are deserving of more credit ; as some circumstances 
always occurred to prevent that faithful survey which the 
country merits. Under the British governrhent, Mr. De 
Brahm, who was appointed to inspect the coast, having quar- 
relled with the governor, did not complete the surveys of the 
Eastern part ; while Mr. Gauld acknowledged that he was 
kept in check by the American privateers, of which His Bri- 
tannic Majesty's hght vessels were in constant dread in that 
quarter. Under these circumstances, Mr. Ellicot's notice of 
them should be fully appreciated. He says, " we have not at 
this time one chart of the coast of East Florida, except Mr. 
Gauld's survey of part of the keys and reef, which is entitled 
to any confidence. An accurate knowledge of the dangerous 
shoal off Cape Canaveral is of great consequence to the com- 
mercial interests of the United States. The navigation be- 
tween the Gulf and the Florida Keys has always been consi- 
dered very dangerous, until Mr. Gauld's survey of the Dry 
Tortugas, and other keys, to Key Largo, which may be look- 
ed upon as one of the most valuable works extant." 

These keys and reefs furnish a great number of harbours, 
calculated as well for merchant vessels as for cruisers, as has 
been stated particularly of Key Biscay no, situated at the north- 
ern entrance of the reef, and capable of commanding the 
whole coasting trade which takes that passage. The mouth 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 107 

of Black Cgesar's, near Key Largo, or, as called by some, 
Black Sarah's Creek, which is only the entrance into an ex- 
tensive sound, between the keys and the main, furnishes most 
excellent water. The sides of the channel are almost per- 
pendicular, like those at old Matacombe, and composed of a 
soft mud. 

The writer, in a voyage made in 1803, in the ship Rufus 
King, drifted among these keys, which he cannot but consi- 
der the more dangerous, as the currents baffle all calculation. 
Along the Florida reef, and among the keys, a great abun- 
dance and variety of turtle and fish may be taken, such as 
hog-fish, grunts, yellow tails, black, red, and grey snappers, 
mullets, bone fish, amber fish, groopers, king fish, silver fish, 
porgys, turbots., stingrays, black drum, Jew fish, &;c. 

Beside the general character of these keys, or islands, for 
the purposes of privateering and turtleing, to which they have 
been long subservient, they were formerly well timbered with 
fustic, mdiogany, lignum vitae, and brazilletto. But they have 
been cut and carried off by the v/reckers from the Bahamas ; 
who, since the wars have ceased to yield them their usual 
harvests, have depended for their support, in a great measure, 
upon this encroachment on the Spanish territory. In addi- 
tion to this, they receive their turtle from this quarter, having 
crawls which they occupy periodically, about November, 
when the turtle approach the Florida shores in immense 
groups, and become an easy prey to the darts of the turtlers. 

Key Biscayno, one of the first on the reef, is near Cape 
Florida, in latitude 27 37 n. ; it has a few settlers, who culti- 
vate plantains and Indian-corn on the north west side sufficient 



108 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &e. 

for their own consumption, and catch fish in abundance. Sacli 
is the rapid and continual growth of corn, that they plant it 
to meet their immediate wants : grain has been known to 
be put into the ground on the 1 6th of September, and grown 
two feet and a half high by the 7th of October following. At 
the south end there is an excellent harbour and good water ; 
near it is Fresh River, which has six feet water for eight or ten 
miles. There is good hammock land in the neighbourhood. 
Old Matacomb^ is noted for affording a greater quantity of 
good water than any of the other keys ; it is found in wells 
of about four ieei deep. On the north-east side is a beautiful 
beach, composed of broken shells, which, at a short distance, 
has the appearance of white sand. 

These keys, or islands, under a variety of names, much dis- 
torted by geographers, translators and navigators, offer very 
little more for particular remark than what has been already 
mentioned ; except that Matanza {slaughter) is remarkable 
for the massacre by the Coloosa Indians, the original inhabi- 
tants of East Florida, of about three hundred Frenchmen, 
who had taken refuge there after having been wrecked on the 
reef; and that many of these reefs are composed of lime stone, 
or calcareous rocks a few feet above the surface of the water, 
covered with a thin stratum of earth, bearing many palm trees, 
and prickly pears or opuntia, producing cochineal. 

Cayo Ani, or Sandy Key, having the appearance which its 
name bears, is little else than a heap of broken shells, with a 
few bushes scattered over it. 

The Tortugas, so called from the number of turtle caught 
there, are low sandy islands. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 109 

Payo Vaca, or Cow Key, is remarkable for having been in- 
habited by the Coloosa Indians from the Havana. 

Near Cape Sable, the southern extremity, is Shark River, 
called by the Spaniards Rio Carbones, said to be only five 
leagues from Lake Mayaco, where there is some good land 
extending to Chatham Bay, which is from Cape Sable to Cape 
Romans, more than twenty-five leagues, and is renowned for 
the landing on it of Jean Ponce de Leon, whose name it bears 
to this day among the Spaniards. This bay receives the wa- 
ters of several important rivers, viz. Dry River, Young or 
North River, St. Marie, Delaware or Gallivans, which are 
said to have their sources in Lake Mayaco or St. Esprit 
The tide in this bay, and farther north, rises considerably, and 
is very rapid. Near the Delaware Sound is an excellent spot 
for a settlement. 

Punta Larga, or Cape Romans, has as fine a harbour as can 
be, with eleven feet water at the bar, and capable of receiv- 
ing any number of shipping. The land is of the best quality, 
having a large proportion of hammock, covered with the 
finest growth of live oak timber ; and the remainder is a sandy 
loam, calculated for cotton and pasturage. 

From thence the coast borders with pine land, to the river 
Coloose Hache. Passing Boca Seca in the same direction^ 
you meet with Charlotte Harbour, or Boca Grande, in lat. 26 
43 north, long. 82 30 west, about 27 leagues south of Tampa 
Bay. It has good anchorage within the bar, which has fifteen 
feet water on it ; and is the outlet of Charlotte River, which, 
in its north-eastern course for several miles diverges into 
creek Romana or Charlotte, continuing east towards Lake 



110 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, SlC. 

Mayaco and New Creek, which joins the St. Johns in a more 
northerly part, nearly intersecting it in a latitude parallel to 
Sebastian's River, thus presenting a chain for canal communi- 
cation between the Atlantic and the Mexican seas. 

On the coast to Tampa Bay are Rio Penas, or Rocky River, 
Chain Island, Saraxola Inlet, Palm Island, Sanival or Long 
Island, and Manatie River ; of all of which the topographical 
writers appear to have been silent, and the most diligent re- 
searches of the author have tended to no other conclusion, 
than that this part of the country, having had a natural vegeta- 
tion unmolested for at least a century, partakes, no doubt, 
with the rest of the province, of all the varieties of timber 
and soil adapted to the same species of culture and improve- 
ment which the enterprise of free Americans will rapidly 
apply to it. 

Mr. Darby, in his Guide to Emigrants, observes, that when 
he was at the mouth of the Sabine in December, 1812, he 
had full leisure and means of examining the coast of the Mexi- 
can Gulf. He states, that near the mouth of the Sabine and 
Calcasiu rivers, no timber is found but what is cast on shore 
by the tides ; and trunks of the largest trees are often found 
lying upon the strand. 

It would appear, he says, from an inspection of a map of 
the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean sea, that the current flows 
from the latter into the former, between Cape St. Antoine, 
and assuming a northern direction, reaches the shore of 
Florida, between the Apalachicola and Mobile rivers, and 
then divides, one part traversing the western shore of East 
Florida, encounters and is carried away by the Gulf Stream, 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. HI 

between Florida Point and the Island of Cuba ; but much the 
largest mass turns to the west, passes along West Florida, 
Alabama territory, the state of Mississippi, Louisiana, and the 
province of Texas, until reaching the bay of St. Joseph, it 
winds with the coast to the south, along the shores of the 
vice-royalty of Mexico, and finally, sweeping the bay of Cam- 
peachy, and the western and northern shores of Yucatan, 
meets the current from which it originated. 

The following observations on the Gulf Passage have been 
furnished by Henry Wood, Esq. of New Providence, and are 
relied upon as accurate. 

From the current frequently varying in course as well as 
rapidity, and the eddy currents likewise various and uncer- 
tain, the ablest navigators and pilots are frequently deceived, 
after passing the Havana, in going northward, and getting up 
as high as the Pan of Matanzas, from which a departure is 
generally taken. 

The incorrectness of the English charts operate very much 
to increase the accidents that annually happen in this passage. 
Romans is esteemed the best, and consequently most in use, 
but it is in some respects erroneous. The tide of flood sets 
on the Bahama Bank, and runs very rapidly. 

On approaching the Florida side, the eddy currents and 
tides setting through the different channels in the reefs and 
inlets are very variable, and frequently enter a greater dis- 
tance into the gulf than mariners are aware of; so much so, 
that the most expert of the Bahama pilots are often deceived 
in the night. — Generally a strong s. w. eddy prevails, and 



112 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

the transition from the stream to the eddy is sometimes very 
visible, by causing what those pilots call Rip Raps ; at other 
times it is not to be discovered. There have been only three 
vessels lost on the Bahama side, in violent weather ; and 
there are on an average, not less than eight vessels lost on 
the Florida side annually ; most of them run ashore in the 
night in good weather when the captains have reckoned 
themselves on the Bahama side. 

Mr. Clarke observes, this situation is meliorated in winter 
by the proximity of a gulf on each side ; and in summer, by 
a regular eddy of the tide winds, the average of heat is made 
less than in more northern climates, where the trade winds 
do not reach ; or in more southern climates, when the trade 
winds have the heats of a lower latitude to contend with. 
Nor is the average of the cold in winter so great as in the 
same latitudes, when remote from the influence of gulfs. I 
suppose that the influence consequent on the neighbourhood 
of those gulfs is equal, at the northern extremity of the pro- 
vince, to the difference of one degree of latitude more south ; 
and about three times this quantity at its southern extremity. 

I account for this singular eddy, or rather vacation of a 
part of the trade wind, to which this province is so much in- 
debted, in this way. We find that when a wind meets a river 
at right angles, it blows directly across ; but when it meets a 
river at an angle of inclination, it immediately, and in pro- 
portion to the acuteness of that angle, leads up or down as the 
case may be, always showing a disposition to follow the course 
of the water ; and the effect is increased according to the ve- 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 113 

locity of the current of the water setting the same way. 
Thus the trade winds, in their course from east to west, be- 
tween Cuba and Florida, are in part met by the Keys and 
Cape of Florida at an angle of inclination of about sixty de- 
grees, and which separating that part from the main current, 
sets it towards the north ; its disposition to follow the 
northward sheet of water it has entered, being there aided by 
the Gulf Stream setting strongly the ^me way, forms a cur- 
rent north equal in strength to the first propulsion west, and 
a course northwest becomes established ; which, passing on 
regularly as it does from the south east, regales Florida, and 
terminates or dies away from weakness at its northern ex- 
tremity. 

Mr. Elhcot reports, that " Various theories have been de- 
vised to account for the phenomenon of the Gulf Stream. By 
one, the -Gulf of Mexico is considered as a great whirlpool, 
occasioned by the water being thrown into it between the 
western extremity of the island of Cuba, and Cape Catoch, by 
the trade winds, and tides, and thrown out by a rotatory mo- 
tion between East Florida and the island of Cuba, where it 
meets with the least resistance. By others it has been attri- 
|)uted to the water thrown into the Gulf of Mexico between 
the west end of Cuba and Cape Catoch, by the trade winds 
alone, and making its way out through the Gulf of Florida, 
where it is the least obstructed. 

"The latter theory scarcely merits a discussion, for it must 
he fividejit that though the winds are for the most part east- 
erly within the torrid zone, yet whenever calms happen in the 

IS 



114 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

West Indies, and south along the coast, which are not uncom- 
mon, the water must recede back to restore equihbrium, and 
not only cease to be pressed into the Gulf of Mexico, but rush 
out where it had before been pressed in, and an equilibrium 
take place between the Gulf and the Ocean, which is never 
the case. 

" The first theory appears to be correct in part, for it is im- 
possible upon any principle of hydrostatics, to account for 
the Gulf Stream without admitting a rotatory motion of the 
waters ; but the centre of this rotatory motion is no more in 
the Gulf of Mexico, than the earth is in the centre of the solar 
system, and one is not more absurd than the other. I had an 
oportunity of examining the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from 
the outlet of Lake Ponchartrain, to Florida Point, and neither 
the currents, nor any other appearance, would justify the sup- 
position that the Gulf had anymore simihtude to a whirlpool, 
than our lakes which are supplied with water at one place, 
discharge it at another. 

" It will be evident, upon a moment's reflection, that the 
vast body of water carried northerly and easterly by the 
Stream, must in some manner be returned southerly and west- 
erly : if this be taken for granted, it follows of course, that 
the Atlantic Ocean, or a part of it, must have a rotatory mo- 
tion about some centre within itself. 

" By admitting this circular motion in the water of the At- 
lantic, though this motion be but small, it will neverthe- 
less, in a great degree, be sufficient to account for the pheno-. 
menon of the Gulf Stream. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 115 

" The water in its circular, or rotatory motion, is thrown 
upon the coast of America a little north of the equator, where, 
from its centrifugal or projectile force, it becomes a little ele- 
vated, and still being carried along the coast northerly and 
easterly, on which the water continues from the same cause to 
be thrown, and at length meets with another body somewhat 
elevated, and upon the same principles carried westerly along 
the southern coast of the island of Cuba, until at length this 
column of water so united, and thus set in motion, constantly 
contracted in width, and proportionably elevated above the 
true level of the sea, is brought, as it were, to a focus between 
the western extremity of Cuba and Cape Catoch, where it 
discharges itself into the Gulf of Mexico, which serves as a 
great reservoir, and contributes to the uniformity of the Gulf 
Stream. The water thus thrown into the Gulf of Mexico, is- 
sues out between East Florida, and the eastern part of the 
island of Cuba and the Bahama Banks, where the water of 
the Ocean is less elevated. 

" The quantity of water thrown into the Gulf of Mexico, is 
no doubt considerably increased and diminished by the differ- 
ent courses of the winds and calms ; but never so much dimi- 
nished as to render the velocity of the Gulf Stream inconside- 
rable ; which would certainly be the consequence if the cause 
depended immediately on the winds. 

" Whether the general rotatory motion of the water in the 
Atlantic is effected wholly by the action of the trade winds, or 
combined with the tides, and other causes, is a subject which 
yet remains to be determined." 



116 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

Espiritu Santo Tampa, or Hillsborough Bay, is the most 
spacious bay on the west coast of the peninsula, and is situ- 
ated in long. 83 west, and lat. 27 36 north, about sixty miles 
from Lake George. It is held in the highest estimation for 
its capacity as a naval depot, having twenty-four feet of 
water, and being easy of access, well calculated to shelter 
vessels of any size from all winds ; it may be justly consider- 
ed as the key to the navigation of the British and Spanish 
islands to leeward, while it must, in the event of possession 
and improvement by the United States, afford protection to 
her own trade, and be of vital importance to her naval gran- 
deur. These consequences are derived from the necessity 
under which the fleets of merchantmen in time of war are, of 
coming through the Gulf of Mexico, and making the Tortugas, 
thus rendering this depot the Gibralter of the West, and of 
incalculable advantage in the hands of an enterprising belli- 
gerent, which it is natural for the United States to look to 
without seeking either for territorial aggrandizement, or ex- 
torting from their Spanish neighbours an unwilling allegiance ; 
still a formidable establishment at Espiritu Santo may in time 
have the effect of controlling the power of Spain under any 
form of government her colonies may adopt, or be subject to. 
By way of exemplification ; it is, for the fleets coming through 
the leeward passage, such a port of annoyance as is Cape 
Nichola-Mole for those going from Jamaica to windward, 
with this difference in favour of Spiritu Santo, that the heavy 
ships must pass it, while those capable of weathering the 
Mole may, by superior sailing, avail themselves of that pas- 
sage. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, kc. 117 

This bay was explored by Captain Braddock, from Virginia, 
whose surveys in 1744 and 1745 are yet considered, accord- 
ing to Mr. Ellicot, as good as any extant ; who says, farther, 
that it is laid down in all the charts too far north, by at least 
fifteen minutes. 

The land about the coast of this invaluable bay is very bar- 
ren, sandy, and low ; and cannot be seen from a ship's deck, 
when in seven fathoms water. There are several low sandy 
islands and marshes, covered with mangrove bushes, lying be- 
fore the main l£tnd, which serve as a resort for the greatest 
number of sea- fowl and fish which it is possible to conceive. 
You may, at a particular season, load a ship with either, or 
with eggs, in a short time. 

Immense quantities of fish are caught with seines in the 
summer time by Spanish fishermen for the Havana. 

The head of the bay is well adapted for advantageous set- 
tlement ; for although the land is chiefly pine, yet the re- 
sources of a fine river, which falls into the east branch of it, 
are well calculated to promote emigration to that quarter. 

The following extract of a letter is from one of the survey- 
ors of the coast, sent by the British goverment : 

Port Royalf Jamaica, odJune, 1772. 

" I had only a few days respite at Pensacola, after near 
six months hard labour last year, on your East Florida coast, 
when I was obliged to come here, by an order from Sir George 
Rodney. After a tedious and disagreeable passage, we ar- 



118 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

rived at Jamaica about the middle of January last, and soon 
afterwards began to survey the harbours of Port Royal and 
Kingston, which have afforded work enough ever since, and 
will take up near two months more, so that I do-not expect to 
see Florida this year. 

" I have had a great deal of very fatiguing work since I 
have been in Jamaica, but, thank God, I am still able to go 
through with it. I have kept my health in general very well. 

" I cannot say that I like Jamaica so well as Florida, bar- 
ren and sandy as it is called. Captain CornwalMs is just re- 
turned here from Pensacola, in the Gaudaloupe, who touched 
at Spiritu Santo in his way. This is the second frigate be- 
longing to his Britannic Majesty that has ever been there. I 
hope a settlement will be made there some time or other. It 
is a place that deserves to be taken notice of. Last summer 
we met with three or four Spanish schooners fishing on that 
coast, where they had large stages erected for curing the fish, 
which they caught in great plenty, and were to carry to the 
Havana against Lent. They told me that each schooner made 
about two thousand dollars a trip. There are six, in all, from 
the Havana employed on that business. This is an object 
worth the attention of British subjects." • 

If, as is stated, there is on this coast a large quantity of 
building stone, how propitious this circumstance for erecting 
fortifications, as necessary at all times for the protection of 
our western coast and trade, as it is politic, in the event of 
war. 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 119 

Cedar and Anclote Keys, or three small islands, lie off Cle- 
ment's Point, admitting craft often feet draught. No beach is 
seen except the two first keys, which appear quite white, and 
are a short distance from St. Joseph's Bay, one hundred miles 
south of Apalache, into which bay the river Amajura runs, and 
nearly interlocks St. Johns. On the banks of this river, in 
common with others in this quarter, are found much good 
land according to general report. Romans states, that the 
Amajura, or some of its branches, is not far from the Manatie ; 
and where he crossed it, there was an extensive piece of ex- 
cellent land. 

This river takes a northern course for some distance, 
and forks at St. Francisco, where one of its branches runs 
westwardly, while the other continues its course towards Oc- 
kefenoke, and nearly intersects St. Nicholas, a branch of the 
River St. Johns. 

From Suannee River, forming the south-eastern point of 
Apalachie Bay, the coast takes a course westward, and is - 
lined with cabbage trees as far as the point of Pines, 
where St. Peter's river falls into the bay. The latter river 
runs northerly, and forks at the distance of about forty 
miles ; ten from thence is a village of the same name. The 
..coast from St. Peter's to Hatcha Hallowaggy is marshy. The 
land at the Mickesucki towns are in high estimation, pro- 
ducing corn, and maintaining cattle as fine as any on the con- 
tinent. Such was the high opinion entertained of them by 
General Jackson, in the Seminole campaign, that he offered 
one hundred dollars to an Indian for one of the cows, deliver- 
able in Tennessee. 



120 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

The river Little St. John, or Suannee, is entitled to espe- 
cial notice. It is by some termed the pelucid river. Romans 
states that he was informed by the Indians and traders that it 
had no branches, or collateral brooks or rivers, tributary to j 
it, but is fed or augmented by great springs, which break i 
out through the banks; and that there was not a creek or rivu- ; 
let to be seen running on the surface of the ground from the 
great Alachua Savanna to this river, a distance of above 
seventy miles ; yet, perhaps, no part of the earth affords a 
greater plenty of pure salubrious water. This singular trans- 
parency is the more unaccountable, as the waters in all the 
flat countries, except this isthmus, are in some degree turgid, 
and have a dark hue, owing to the annual firing of the forests 
and plains. 

Apalachicola River, in 29 42 north lat. and 68 west, forms 
the western division between the two Provinces of East and 
West Florida, and in its course northward, becomes that of 
Georgia and Alabama. It is said to proceed from other rivers, 
having their origin on the south of the great ridge of hills in 
the rear of the Carolinas, and is navigable for small vessels. 
Although a large stream, discharging itself into St. George's 
sound, near Cape St. Bias, connected with the Chatahouchy 
and Flint Rivers, it is susceptible of immense advantages to 
the settlement of the country ; which the sale of lands by 
Messrs. John Forbes &; Co. to several enterprising gentlemen 
will promote in a very rapid degree ; the most ample means, 
and all possible encouragement, being offered by them to 
settlers. It was on this river that the trade with the Indians 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, kc. 121 

was to have been carried on, by agreement with the Upper 
and Lower Creeks ; and is more calculated for the prosecu- 
tion of that trade than any other part of the country. Al- 
though the bar of Apalachicola River is a plain one, yet the 
navigation up is difficult in the present unsettled state of the 
country, owing to the want of pilots, and to the great number 
of turns it has. Twenty miles from its mouth is Fort Gads- 
den, formerly the Negro fort, blown up by the gallantry of 
Colonel Clinch, of the army, and Lieutenants Loomis and 
Bassett, of the United States' Navy, while attacking it. This 
fort, which was considered in former times as the most eligi- 
eligible spot for concentrating the forces intended either 
for offensive or defensive measures against the Indians, 
or any other Floridians, was used offensively against the 
United States, during the war of 1812 ; the notorious Colo- 
nels Woodbine and Nichols, having collected large bodies of 
runaway negroes, and Seminole and Choctaw Indians, at 
this place, intending them for co-operation with the regular 
land and naval forces of the British during that war. — ■ 
It was here that Mr. Loughborough, a midshipman, and 
three sailors, in the United States' service, were decoyed by 
some Indians, when in search of water, and scalped by them„ 
By all accounts, three hundred of those misled creatures paid 
for their temerity by the forfeiture of their lives, which they 
lost on the explosion of the fort, leaving about twelve survi- 
vors to tell the story. (See Appendix.) 

The land in this neighbourhood is considered poor; but 

J6 



122 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

from ten miles above to the end of the line is a continuation 
of most excellent land, running along the borders of the river. 
This is swamp of heavy growth, and not deeper than two miles. 
From the circumstance of Flint and Chatahouchy Rivers 
emptying themselves into the Apalachicola, which, of itself, 
is very extensive, and has a strong current running down, 
there is a great swell on the river during December and 
January, completely inundating the swamp lands ; but it sub- 
sides in February, and by the beginning of March is fit for 
cultivation. 

The distance from St. Augustine to St. Marks appears, by 
an official return to Governor Grant, to be 346 miles — viz. 

From St Augustine to Picolata, 21 miles. 

From Picolata to Latchaway, 70 

From Latchaway to Little Suanee River, 45 
From Little Suanee River to Big Asila River, 50 

From Big to Little Asila River, 45 

From Little Asila to Cabbage River, 9 

From Cabbage River to St. Peter's River, 8 

From St. Peter's River to Sinking River, 1 8 

From Sinking River to Grassy River, 15 

From Grassy River to Palatchy old fields, 25 

From Palatchy old fields to St. Marks, 40 

346 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 123 

By another account and route : 

From St. Augustine to Picolata, 27 

From Picolata to Poppa, 5 

From Poppa to Alachana Savanna, 45 
From Alachana Savanna to Talahasotche on the 

Little Suanee, 75 

Down the Suanee to St. Marks, 30 

180 

According to this last route and statement, the width of the 
Province of East Florida may be computed at 180 miles, 
while others have stated it at only 160. 

Mention is often made of the mountains and old fields of 
the Apalaches as deserving of notice ; but the character of the 
former is dubiously stated, unless considered as a continuation 
of the Blue Ridge, too far distant for present notice, while 
it is agreed on all hands, that traces of the latter are exhibited 
to this day, in corn hills, pieces of iron and brass castings, 
hails, &c. But the general and most fair presumption is, that 
large tracts have formerly been cleared away by the Spaniards, 
or Indians, and now go by the name of the old fields. Some 
of the best land that has been seen is in this neighbourhood, 
and to the north of Apalachy ; also, about forty miles up the 
Country, near the Indian villages called Miki Suki ; in passing 
to which, there are several tracts of very good land, covered 
with oak, hickory, maple, and such other timber as generally 
grow in a good soil. 

Alachua, or Latcahway, is that part of the province of East 
Florida, situated in a n, w, direction from St. Augustine, 



124 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &e. 

distant about ninety miles, which has remained constantly in 
possession of the Indians. The old town, occupied by a 
powerful tribe of that name, was situated on the most ele- 
vated eminence on the savanna, to which the hills descent' 
gradually. 

All accounts agreeing so perfectly in extolling the fertility 
of its soil, the salubrity of its air, the sublimity of its scenery, 
its abundant supply of cattlf;, and stock of all kinds, and its 
general and specific properties for becoming one of the most 
valuable sections of the territory, that I feel bound to state 
every information which has come "to my knowledge, re- 
specting this terrestrial paradise, and to say, that it is perhaps 
better calculated than any other part of the country for the 
establishment of a white population desirous of agricultural 
pursuits. 

Bartram says. The extensive Alachua savanna is a level 
green plain, above fifteen miles in extent, and over fifty miles 
in circumference, and scarcely a tree or bush of any kind to 
be seen on it. It is encircled with high sloping hills, covered 
with waving forests and fragrant orange groves, rising frona 
an exuberantly fertile soil. The towering magnolia grandi- 
flora, and transcendant palm, stand conspicuous amongst 
them. At the same time there were seen innumerable 
droves of cattle. We approached the savanna at the south 
end, by a narrow isthmus of level ground, open to the hght 
of day, and clear of trees or bushes, and not greatly elevated 
above the common level ; having on our right a spacious 
meadow embellished with a little lake, one verge of which 
Was not very distant from us 5 its shore is a moderately highj 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 125 

circular bank, partly encircling a cove of the pond, in the 
form of a half moon ; the water is clear and deep. At the 
distance of some hundred yards was a large floating field, if I 
may so express myself, of the nymphia nilumbo, with its 

I 

j golden blossoms waving to and fro on their lofty stems. Be- 
yond these fields of nymphia, were spacious plains, encom- 
passed by dark groves, opening to extensive pine forests ; 
other plains still appearing beyond them. 
j The town of Cuscowilla, which is the capital of the Ala- 
i chua tribe, contains about thirty habitations, each of which 
j contains two houses of neariy the same size, about thirty feet 
[in length, twelve feet wide, and about the same in height. 

Such was the opinion entertained of the excellence of the 
lands in Latchaway, that the soi disant patriots from Tennes- 
see were tempted by their high estimation of them to proceed 
thither inconsiderable numbers in 1814, when General Harris 
and his party, looking to a revolution in Florida, selected for 
themselves about 350,000 acres of the best savanna lands, for 
which regular surveys and grants were said to have been 
made ; but afterwards abandoned with much reluctance. 
The vast quantities of live oak and hickory lands in this 
district, the undulating grounds, the prairies, the rocks, the 
wells or springs, the ponds, many of them more properly 
small lakes, and the gradual slope of the hills of Alachua, are 
prognostics of its early settlement by an industrious and 
thriving people. 

The following account is from a gentleman* who has re-^ 

* George I. F. Clarke, Esq. 



12 j TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 

sided from his infancy in Florida, and possesses more local 
information respecting it than perhaps any other person. 

" The undefined territory of Alachua lies along the western 
broadside of the river St. Johns, I suppose about eighty miles 
wide from east to west, and one hundred and twenty miles 
long from north to south, and contains immense bodies of the 
most valuable high lands ; the finest pasturage generally ; and 
in all parts healthy. To enter into a particular description 
of this interesting part of the country, would too far exceed 
my present limits, and indeed might appear exaggerated. 1 
will therefore only state, that hundreds of persons from Ten- 
nessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, who have visited that section 
of East Florida, agree that it is the most eligible back country 
they have ever seen." 

The relation of Spain with the Aborigines in all her 
American possessions, has ever been very different from 
that of Great Britain and of the United States. It has 
been the policy of the two latter to procure the rights 
of the natives by conquest or purchase. The Spaniards, 
on the contrary, obtained a grant from his holiness the 
Pope to that part of the western world they should dis- 
cover, for the purpose of extending the catholic religion ; 
they then made a lodgment on a spot sufficient to build a fort 
in any province or kingdom on the continent, and uniformly 
entered into treaties of incorporation with the natives. 

But this system has not tended to put the Aborigines out 
of the way as rapidly as those of conquest or purchase, as will 
appear by reference to the history of New Spain, where a 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. l27 

great part of the apparent decrease will be found not fo be 
extermination, but amalgamation. Cortez varied the mode 
of process, but not the principle ; for in going direct to the 
capital of Mexico, and gaining a solid footing, he there car- 
ried on the system of incorporation ; and there is found the 
greatest proportion of amalgamation. But where are the 
tribes that inhabited the immense continent known as the 
United States ? 

From the numerous attempts to dispossess the Indians of 
that invaluable tract, the following deposition, to defeat that 
object, was taken by one of the judges at St. Augustine, on 
the 4th of October, 1775, and may throw some light on the 
various claims to it. 

Thomas Grey, formerly an Indian trader of the province of 
Georgia, declares, that last November or December, Mr. 
Jonathan Bryan sent for the deponent, and after some diffi- 
culty, engaged him to go with him to Latchaway as a linguist, 
as he, Bryan, was going there to treat with the Indians about 
land, assuring him, that he would make it worth his while ; 
that his uncle, St. Japhi, attended Mr. Bryan as far as his 
house ; and that after accompanying Mr. Bryan as far as Cap- 
tain Williams' house, he seemed rather dissatisfied with the 
intended bargaining about the lands with the Indians, and re- 
turned home. Mr. Bryan, Mr. Savory, surveyor, and John 
Chisolm, surveyor, the deponent, two Indians, and a young 
man commonly called Sawzan, continued their journey, and 
arrived at the west point of Latchaway, in about four ©r five 
daysjwhere Mr. Bryan, wrote a good deal, and he and the sur- 
veyors wrote theirs and deponent's name on red oaks. When 



128 TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKlES, kC, 

they reached the Cowkeeper's town, they could get no other' 
intelligence from the women and children, than that the Cow- 
keeper and his men were gone to war ; whence they proceeded 
to Mr. Spalding's store ; from that to Joseph Grey's planta- 
tion, where they saw Okouthly, of whom Mr. Bryan asked, if 
he and the Latchaway Indians would give him land to erect 
a town, where large boats and vessels could come to : that he 
had obtained the consent of the head men of the nation, and ; 
that he only wanted theirs. 

To which Okouthly replied, that he was now grown old, 
and had not long to live, and that if the head men of the na- 
tion had given him the land, he must have it, and asked Mr. 
Bryan what land he wanted, and where he meant to settle : 
To which Mr. Bryan replied, at St. Marks, or Little Suanne, 
where there was good navigation, and that he meant to settle 
a town, which the Indians considered to be a large tract of 
land. That from thence Mr. Bryan and the others above 
mentioned proceeded to the Indians settled at Black Creek, 
where they found only Ohalgie, a young Indian, and women 
and children, (the rest of the Indians being at that time at' 
St. Augustine,) whom he addressed in the same manner as 
he had done Okouthly, promising to return in two months 
with presents, and expecting by that time the Cowkeeper 
would be at home, and that the whole would be finished; 
and made him a present of two shirts. He further declares, 
that he did not see the land surveyors make use of surveying 
instruments ; but they kept a journal, and that regularly they 
transferred their memorandums from the horn book to the 
pocket book ; that "in last June, he saw Mr» Bryan, 



TOWNS, RIVERS, LAKES, &C. 129 

who informed him that last February, he meant to have 
carried the presents he intended for the Indians, but that 
being on St. John's river, he, Bryan, was informed the 
governor of East Florida meant to apprehend him 
and distress him, and that he was obliged to return ; 
that Mr. Bryan gave him an order for fifteen pounds sterling 
for going with him to Latchaway, and requested him, as he 
intended to go there soon, that he would remember the me- 
morandum he had given him concerning the lands, and com- 
municate it to the Cowkeeper and Latchaway Indians, and 
try if they could be prevailed upon to give their consent to 
what the head men of the nation had agreed to, respecting 
the lands on which he wanted to make a settlement. That 
about a month ago St. Jago, and another Indian, came to his 
house, and that his uncle told him he was going to Latch- 
away to the Cowkeeper and head men with a message from 
Mr. Bryan, to signify to them that the said Bryan had got the 
head men of the nation to sign a paper, giving him lands for 
a settlement ; and to sound the Latchaway Indians, if they 
would join in confirming the deed : which message or talk 
from Mr. Bryan St. Jago delivered to the Cowkeeper, who 
would not hear the talk, and said it was false ; that he would 
not beUeve that the nation would give him the land. He would 
soon know the truth, as some Indians were soon expected 
from the nation to visit the governor. 

Talahasochte, a small Indian town on the old road from St 
Augustine to Apalachicola, is on an elevated spot near thirty 
feet high, having about thirty houses, like Cuscovilla. It bor- 

17 



130 TOWN^, RIVERS, LAKES, SlC. 

ders on the River Little Suanee, which is remarkable for 
the transparency of its waters. It is two hundred yards wide 
opposite the town, and from fifteen to twenty feet deep 5 and, 
like the River St. Mary's, derives its source from Lake Oke- 
fonoke. Owing to its meanders, it runs a course of nearly 
two hundred miles to the sea. 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 131 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES, 



The commerce of the Floridas, though at present compara- 
tively insignificant, is nevertheless entitled to particular no- 
tice, both on account of its former consequence, and the re- 
sources which the increase of an industrious people will de- 
velope by the cultivation of the soil, as well as by the disco- 
very of new objects of commercial enterprise. 

It is said that the want of water on the different bars is an 
almost insurmountable barrier to the advancement of com- 
merce ; this, like the too common representation of the bar- 
renness of the soil, would leave nothing for expectation from 
those territories, but expense to the nation, and disappoint- 
ment to individuals. 

The futility of the assertions can be established, and nu- 
Jnerous other vague reports can be easily controverted, by 
reference to the accounts of the former productions of the coun- 
try, and by adverting to the bounteous provisions made by 
nature, in affording spacious harbours on the western side of 
the Peninsula ; while mechanism and art can, with very little 
exertion and expense, improve the navigation along the East- 
ern coast, which is every where accessible to craft drawing 
eight feet, at St. Mary's eighteen feet, and St. John's twelve 
f^et. 



132 . COMMERCE AND MANUFACTtREiS. 

From the subjoined statements, it is evident, that com- 
merce was carried on with Florida, although to a very 
limited extent, before the American war ; during which it 
increased, until the evacuation placed it in the hands of 
a government that may be denominated anti-cemmercial. 
When the trade was carried on by a few regular traders^ 
the amount of imports and exports to and from Great Bri- 
tain were. 





Imports. 


Exports. 


In n62 


£ 9,916 


none 


1768 


32,572 


£ 14,078 


1773 


51,502 


7,129 


1778 


64,165 


48,236 


1781 


16,446 


30,715 



Exports, generally, from East Florida : 

In 1769 6,189 lbs of Indigo, worth 6s 6d t© 

7s 8d per pound. 

1770 8,153 

1771 20,063 lbs worth 7s to lis 8d. 

1772 40,000 

There was a bounty upon Indigo raised in the province. 
In 1770 there were fifty schooners and sloops entered at the 
custom house of St. Augustine, from the Northern Provinces 
and West Indies, besides several square rigged vessels in the 
trade to London and Liverpool. 

General imports in 1771 were, 54 pipes Maderia wine, 170 
puncheons rum, 1660 barrels of flour, 1000 barrels of beef and 
pork, 339 firkins of butter, and 11,011 pounds of loaf sugar, 
in twenty-nine vessels ; of which there were from London, 5 j 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 138 

New- York, 7 ; Charleston, 1 1 ; and other places, 6. There 
were, also, imported into the Province about one thousand 
negroes, of which one hundred and nineteen were from Africa. 
The Indigo received by the Beaufain, in March, 1772, from 
East Florida, was sold at Garraway's Coffee House ; one 
parcel averaged 7s IHd, and some belonging to H. Strachey, 
Esq. M. P. sold for lis 9d. This circumstance is sufficient 
to remove all doubts, if any existed, of the superior quality of 
the Florida indigo : it is said to be equal to the Caraccas Flo- 
tant. 

The annual average of the expenses of East Florida to 
Great Britain, from 1st January, 1779, to 1st January, 1782, 
was 122,666/. 135. Ad. sterhng, while those of West Florida, 
for the same period was 404,750/. sterling, without including 
those of the navy or army. 

In 1782 there were 20,000 barrels of turpentine shipped 
from St. Johns by a contractor with the British government, 
which allowed a bounty of ten shillings sterling per barrel — an 
amount surpassing the value ordinarily at the place of manu- 
facture. Yet it is sold for exportation in St. Augustine, at 
thirty-six shillings sterling per barrel, so that every barrel 
cost at least forty-six shillings sterling at the place of era- 
barkation, besides mercantile profit. 

If British enterprize and policy were exerted in promoting 
the commerce of the Floridas, by offering bounties upon ex- 
ports and encouragement to settlers, those of Spain have had 
a contrary effect, as those provinces have remained without 
either, under the latter government. 

The articles of export will be found under the head of 



1S4 COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 

productions. Those of imports may be counted similar to 
those for the states of Georgia, with the addition of such ar- 
ticles as may be necessary for the culture and manufacture of 
the tropical productions in a greater extent. To these may 
be added a very important branch of commerce of both im- 
port and export, the produce of the numerous wrecks on the 
peninsula, which at present affords employ for sixty vessels, 
and subsistence for at least 500 Bahama fishermen, besides a 
considerable revenue to that government, and other local ad- 
vantages to its inhabitants, which to many of them are their 
chief, if not their only support. Such is their dependence, that 
the whole population of those islands, said to be 4000 whites 
and 11,000 blacks, must revert to Florida, unless Cuba 
should fall into the possession of Great Britain, in which last 
case, the large slave holders promise themselves the advan- 
tages of settlements in that island ; an event to which they 
look with anticipated satisfaction, while sounder politicians 
consider the inhabitants of Cuba too much enlightened to 
change the Spanish yoke for that of any other European 
power ; and such has been the calculation, that some of them 
have deferred availing themselves of the royal favour to 
transport their slaves to Demarara, or other newly acquired 
colony, under the British dominions, until the fate of Cuba 
shall be known. 

Whether the commercial restrictions imposed by the uni- 
form system of the Spanish government proceeded from 
errors or defects in the judgment of its leaders, is not material 
at the present day ; but such has been its aversion to any 
open trade in the colonies, and such the consequent encour- 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 135 

agement to an illicit one, that, for fear of rendering Florida 
an avenue for foreigners to its ulterior possessions, or of im- 
mediate use to the United States, they have preferred cramp- 
ing the inhabitants by the enforcement of laws repulsive in 
fact, although ostensibly for the benefit of both merchant 
and agriculturalist. 

If reference was had to the exports from Florida, during 
the embargo, non-intercourse, and war of the United States, 
they would be found of immense value, and of extraordi- 
nary amount, by those who were unacquainted with the 
nature of the smuggling trade, in which the produce of the 
United States bore a very conspicuous part ; particularly 
the articles of cotton, rice, flour and tobacco, which were 
transported coastwise, and passed as the growth of Florida. 
It would be as fruitless as unimportant to seek for returns 
of the actual amount ; yet it is upon record,* that the ex- 
ports from the United States to Florida, from the 1st October, 
1814, to 1st September, 1815, amounted to ^849, 341, of 
wfeich only $2,379 appear to have been foreign goods ; the 
remainder consequently domestic produce. Those from Oc- 
tober, 1816, to October, 1817, were, domestic $130,789, 
foreign $25,699. 

It may be necessary to remark, that as no goods exported 
to Florida from the United States are entitled to drawback, 
some foreign goods may have been included in those con- 
sidered domestic. 

A commerce thus established, must be viewed in no other 

* Dr. Seybert 



13S COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 

light than that of a momentary source, dependent upon po- 
litical events not likely to recur ; — at the same time the 
reader, and those persons proposing to become settlers 
in the new country, may be assured of the resources of it, as 
well by a view of the past, as by a comparative estimate of 
the growing wealth and prosperity of the adjacent states, so 
assimilated in many respects. 

To the articles of manufacture and export, common, as 
staple commodities, to the neighbouring states, may be added 
stone, of which there are many quarries of a peculiar 
quality ; and lime, which can be made in this province from 
the oyster shells, more abundantly, with less expense, and of 
better quality than elsewhere ; and pot and pearl ashes in like 
manner. The oranges are of all kinds and qualities ; the 
sweet should be wilted and packed as apples for transporta- 
tion, the sour squeezed into juice, and the peel used as a 
marmelade, and for medicinal purposes when dried. The 
flowers can be distilled into an essence equal to otto of roses. 
Limes and citrons, either green or as preserves ; the loblolly 
bark, for the purposes of tanning, which is here in great 
quantities, more convenient than oak, possessing a more 
forcible astringent ; palma christi, commonly called castor, 
and benni oil, known for their medicinal virtues and table 
properties respectively, may be made in the greatest quanti- 
ties, at a trifling expense. — The honey of the peninsula has 
been seen in a crystallized state, almost as white as snow, 
and of the most delicate flavour. 

Among the present articles of export, are the fish spe- 
cies : the turtle and sheepshead, and the roes of the mullet, 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 137 

which when cured is said to be equal to the caviar of Eu- 
rope : thus deriving from this piscatory region articles of 
research for the epicure, and ornamental tortoise shell for 
the beau monde. Add to these, the alligator skins, peculiarly 
adapted for boots and shoes. 

The trade in peltries was carried on with the Indians for- 
merly, in this province, upon an extensive scale, by Messrs. 
Panton and LesKe, Spaulding, KelsuU, M'Latchie, Swanson, 
and M'Gilvray, and Strother ; and in West Florida by the 
former and Messrs. Mather &; Morgan. They all with- 
drew from it at the peace of 1 783, except Messrs. Panton, 
Leslie, and Forbes, who obtained from the Spanish govern- 
ment a special extension of privileges, of which they availed 
themselves until a late period, having to contend, on the 
one hand with the rapacity of British cruizers, (although 
they were licensed by their king and his council,) and on 
the other, with difficulties incident to a state of depen- 
dence upon the favour of the Spanish government, which 
limited them to two vessels a year at the ports of Pensa- 
cola and Mobile, and to articles not of the production of 
the Spanish colomies, but exempted them from the droit 
d'aubaine, and the colonial duty of six pet cent. 

Here the commercial and manufacturing interests will not 
clash, as in the eastern and populous states, but mutually 
support each other ; as the latter must depend upon the for- 
mer for their supplies, in exchange for the manufactures, 
which will be in general of a nature for export, and thus 
establish a reciprocity of interests, the surest foundation for 
permanent friendship and advantage. 

18 



138 COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 

The jealousy and competition between foreigners and our 
ship owners, which exists in the trade of the southern states, 
derives no encouragement from the annexation of the pen- 
insula, in forming the arrondissement of the United States, 
and leaving no nucleus, or subsidiary, to foment those mer- 
cenaries who would barter the undivided moiety of the 
Union for a license to fish on the banks of Newfoundland, 
and then surrender (if they could) the remainder, for a par- 
ticipation of che India trade, or of that of the southern states; 
which last they might, by a more laudable policy, ensure 
exclusively to themselves. 

The trade on the eastern side must be carried on by 
coasters, fitted out and owned in the north, from the nature 
of the coast, and other circumstances too obvious to need 
an enumeration, which that on the west cannot soon in- 
terfere with for want of population and settlement, since 
some time will be required to develope its vast importance 
in every point of view, by affording to its inhabitants all 
the necessaries and comforts of life, and yielding to the 
United States and the commercial world its superfluous 
produce, hitherto unknown as articles of trade. 

Such was the languishing state of these Provinces (em- 
bracing a thousand miles of sea coast) in point of trade, as 
well as of agriculture, under the dominion of Spain, that nei- 
ther were calculated to afford resources to individuals, or re- 
venue to the crown ; but, on the contrary, rendered them un- 
productive to the former; as they have been burdensome to 
the latter. Since, appropriations from the more wealthy 
possessions were required to defray the exigencies of govern- 



COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 139 

ment ; which were formerly settled by bills, (liberansas) on the 
Havana, in default of dollars in that quarter, when they could 
be spared. The remittances required were about ^150,000 
per annum. 

It is proper here to remark that the most efficient revenue 
afforded to the crown was derived from duties collected at 
Amelia, during the embargo of 1808, and the war of 1812 *, 
which, upon a very reduced scale, yielded, it is said, ^100.000. 

The articles of trade of which this country can boast may 
be condensed, with those of the southern states generally, 
viz. cotton, rice, Indian and Guinea corn, bees and myrtle 
wax, lumber of all descriptions, and of the best kind, parti- 
cularly live oak, pine and cypress, peltries and naval stores, 
cedar and cabbage posts, bark for tanning, alligator skins, 
stone, lime, oranges, lemons, limes and citrons, in kind, and 
in juice and preserves, fish and turtle, bear's oil, honey, per- 
fumes, pot and pearl ashes. 

In enumerating the articles of trade promising great ad- 
vantage, it is due to the traders to apprize them of the de- 
structive character of the worms to all vessels trading to the 
ports where the salt water is predominant; they should guard 
against them by means of copper or zinc. Vessels of easy 
draft of water should be employed until the bars are improved, 
or become perfectly familiar to the American mariner. 



4B COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. 



POPULATION. 



Heterogeneous as the people of this country may be 
Considered, their neighbours, under present circumtances, 
will naturally be anxious to know who they are, and what 
they formerly were. 

It may fairly be presumed, from the tumuli, and other ves- 
tiges, frequently discovered in the Peninsula, that there for- 
merly was an extensive population in this country, whose 
origin appears to be very uncertain. 

In 1763, at the evacuation by the Spaniards, there were, in 
St. Augustine, three thousand inhabitants. In 1768, it is 
stated there were, in East Florida, six thousand, not including 
Indians or troops ; and, in 1 778, an increase, by emigration 
from the Carolinas and Georgia, of near seven thousand loy- 
alists, with their slaves. 

The Minorcans, brought into the Province by Dr. Turn- 
bull, have in general remained in it, and served, from their 
regular mode of life, and industrious habits, to increase the 
population. The famihes introduced by Mr. Rolle, about four 
hundred in number, became dissatisfied, and took refuge in 
the Carolinas ; so, also, did the Highlanders, who arrived in 
1772, having been prevailed upon by the M'Intosh's to settle 
in Georgia. 



POPULATION. 141 

Romans states the population of St. Augustine, in 1775, to 
have been only one thousand. 

The remainder of the Province was always thinly peopled. 
Among the population of this country, may be fairly rated 
the Indians, as the immediate descendants of its aborigines ; 
who have been much diminished by frequent wars. Yet 
it is very certain, that in the statements or estimates of the 
population of the country, they have not been fairly brought 
into calculation. 

After the evacuation by the British, in 1784, few of the old 
settlers remained in the province, most of them having emi- 
:grated to the neighbouring states, and to the Bahamas and 
other British possessions in the West Indies ; thus leaving the 
Spaniards to occupy the towns, beyond which they did not 
venture, except to keep up a semblance of occupancy. — ■ 
Very shortly after the departure of the English, the Indians 
came into the neighbourhood of St. Augustine, burnt BellsE 
Vista, the country-seat of Governor Moultrie, and created so 
much alarm among the Spaniards, as to impede, if not annihi- 
late, the farther progress of cultivation. 

Attempts were made, by the governors of the Province, to 
encourage settlers, by offering lands, but these were fruitless, 

until some of the inhabitants of the Bahamas, having failed in 
their efforts to reap even a bare subsistence from those barren 
rocks which were assigned to them by the British, as an 
asylum in return for their loyalty, availed themselvee of the 
opportunity of returning, as a dernier resort, to avoid total 
ruin and starvation arid settled near the Mosquito. But the 
want of protection from the Spanish government rendered 



142 POPULATION. 

their settlements alike temporary and unproductive ; and 
those whose property was free from incumbrances removed to 
the United States, from which, in turn, some of embarrassed 
circumstances, as well as others, withdrew to Florida, and did 
much in improving the country, when the revolution in 1812 
caused their removal. 

The militia in East Florida was about six hundred and fifty 
strong, in 1817. 

The whole population has been variously rated at from 
eight to ten thousand in the provinces, of which about three 
thousand are in St. Augustine. 

The number of Indians cannot be well ascertained, owing 
to their distracted and dispersed state. It has been estimated 
that they have 3,000 warriors, which tvill be thought incon- 
siderable by many ; but, as they are without leaders, even this 
calculation cannot be considered accurate. 

The present population of the Floridas cannot be rated at 
more than six thousand of all descriptions, in East Florida, 
and five thousand in West Florida, according to the best in- 
formation. 

No doubt remains in my mind, that when the population of 
this country shall have increased by the emigration of our 
Eastern neighbours, (which there is no doubt it will in a short 
time,) accompanied by their industry, talents, and economy, 
the country will be improved to such a degree as to be scarce- 
ly recognizable. 

The perfidious policy of the regal government of Spain 
has always been marked by its fixed determination to keep 
the Americans from its colonies, owing to their great dread 



POPULATION. 143 

of those principles of liberty so happily diffused throughout 
the continent of North America ; from this proceeded, not 
only the aversion to their residence among them, but an ab- 
solute order from the crown, prohibiting them from holding 
lands in Florida, while the British openly and constantly en- 
• joyed that privilege. This fact is established by the grants 
made to several inhabitants from the Bahama Islands, as well 
as to others. The day has at length arrived when Spain, 
conscious of her inability to oppose the tide of liberty, must 
yield to justice, what she intended only as acts of indulgence 
for a population of European aristocrats whom she invited in 
vain to this quarter. 

The state of society in this territory, although assimilated, 
in some respects, to that of Louisiana on its fortunate acces- 
sion to the American confederacy, presents a novelty of 
character under still more variegatei forms and peculiar cir- 
cumstances, requiring a wise and perhaps vigorous adminis- 
tration ; one that will encourage an industrious, and keep in 
check a disorderly population. Some, no doubt, will resort 
thither, without a respect for either religion or the laws, and 
others, more from absolute want, than a laudable ambition. 

The philanthropic project of civilizing the Indians cannot 
be too highly commended ; and when it is considered that 
they are the aborigines of the country, the inducement is en- 
hanced, and the mind is roused to researches for their good 
qualities. A writer of celebrity has observed, that when an 
Indian attains a certain degree of civilization, he displays a 
great facility of apprehension, a judicious mind, a natural 
logic, and a particular disposition to subtilize, or sever, the 



144 P0PULATIO1N. 

finest differences in the comparison of objects. He reasons 
coolly and orderly, but he never manifests that versatility 
of imagination, that glow of sentiment, and that creative and 
animating art, which characterize the nations of the south of 
Europe. 

Whenever a question as to the Indians arises, it has been 
too common to contemplate ferocity, and the worst traits 
which characterize the human heart, and to seek for apolo- 
gies for what is termed retaliation for atrocities ; as if one 
evil was a palliation for another. An abhorrence of this race 
of people may have been tolerated, from political motives, by 
Europeans ; but surely no well founded reason can be ad- 
duced, why the same spirit, so revolting to humanity, should 
be fostered by the Americans, whose forbearance and libe- 
rality are, in many other respects, proverbial, and should be 
exemplified by acts of benignity and good fellowship worthy 
of natives of the same soil, and from whom is expected those 
religious considerations so much and so laudably reverenced 
at the present day. 

As the welfare of a society depends on the basis of re- 
ligion, it is so ordered by the great Author of Nature, that 
the successful establishment of the one shall depend on the 
existence of the other. It is fully manifested, that the regu- 
lations of a community are imperfect without the influence 
of religion, and that the prosperity of a country must 
depend, in a great degree, on the moral qualities of 
its inhabitants. Consequently, it becomes important to 
encourage some species of people in preference to others? 



POPULATION. 145 

as far as may be consistent with the true spirit of our repubU- 
can institutions, which admit of a mixed population, but which 
may be adapted to the views and circumstances of different 
sections of the Peninsula. 

Let our eastern brethren migrate thither, and be the 
pioneers of good morals, steady habits, and civilization, gra- 
dually adapting them by imperceptible changes to the settlers, 
who will eventually become useful members of society, and 
fitted for that species of independence so consonant with the 
true principles of freedom, aud so happily diffused through- 
out the union. 



19 



146 AGRICULTURE. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Various opinions have been formed as to the fertihty of 
the lands in East Florida, which common report and geogra- 
phers have too uniformly pronounced to be sand hills, pine 
barrens, and salt marshes. Nothing but experience can con- 
firm or remove the prejudices arising from such hasty conclu- 
sions. By some it is said, that the planters of the southern 
states will remove their hands, under an expectation that the 
lands are more calculated for the production of rice, than the 
Carolinas ; and that they will prefer the more profitable cul- 
ture of sugar, and the tropical productions, to which the pe- 
ninsula is more genial, to the trouble and expense of manu- 
ring their present exhausted settlements. 

The lands in these provinces, intersected in most parts by 
spacious rivers, creeks, lakes, and ponds, are promiscuously 
composed of the following kinds : 

Those denominated high and low hammock, are most es- 
teemed for the more valuable productions, such as cotton, 
sugar, and corn, and are distinguished by the natural growth 
of large evergreen oaks, hickory, red bay, magnolia, and 
cabbage trees ; and in many parts intermixed with orange 



AGRIC^ULTURE. 147 

groves, springing from a soil composed of a light, and some- 
times black mixture of loam and vegetable mould, as super- 
strata of various depths, having a foundation of marie and 
clay in undulating layers, the most inexhaustible sources of 
cultivation. Traces of ancient settlement and population are 
found in these tracts of land. 

Swamp lands are distinguished by the growth of the cypress 
and other large trees in forests, emblems of their fertility and 
adaptation for rice ; for which cultivation, they require to 
be drained and devested of the saline particles unfriendly to 
vegetation. 

Pine lands, which are more favourable to cultivation and 
pasturage than those in the neighbouring states, not only on 
account of the pine trees being more resinous, but by their 
distance from each other, without any underwood, giving an 
appearance of open groves, rather than of forests ; and there- 
by affording room for vegetation, which is promoted by the 
influence of the sun and the circulation of air. Although 
these are too generally pronounced barren, much good corn 
has been raised from them, and they are said to be peculiarly 
adapted to the culture of the grape. 

Salt marsh lands, generally bordering, with banks of oysters, 
on the sea coast, afford an abundance of grass, excellent food 
for horses and cattle. It is also good manure, on an im- 
poverished soil, for raising cotton. 

Prairie or meadow lands are margined towards the sea by 
immense quantities of oyster shells, from which, advancing 
into the country, are often found extensive plains of grass 



148 AGRICULTURE. 

and cane brakes, on which vast herds of cattle were for- 
merly raised ; they are also well adapted to rice and sugar. 
Sand hills which run parallel with the sea, afford little 
more than small shrubbery, saw palmetto, wire grass, and 
prickly pears, without any other use than as beacons on 
a low coast to mariners, and as presenting a variety of ro- 
mantic scenery. 

Palm or Date Trees, (one of which is mentioned as grow- 
ing on Anastatia or Fish's Island,) grows, in Africa, to the 
height of sixty, and even one hundred feet, and much resem- 
bles the cabbage trees of the country. Its branches attract 
notice from their beauty and constant rustling, as well as from 
the peculiarity of the lower branches, which resemble and 
serve for ladders, and seem designed by nature to ascend the 
tree. The fruit resembles, in form, the largest acorns, but is co- 
vered with a thin semi-transparent yellowish membrane, con- 
taining a fine soft saccharine pulp of a somewhat vinous fla- 
vour, in which is enclosed an oblong hard kernel. It 
affords, when fresh, a very wholesome nourishment, and pos- 
sesses an agreeable taste. 

An oil is prepared from the fruit of this tree called palm 
oil, which is much used as butter and ointment in Africa, from 
whence it has been transplanted into the West Indies. In Port- 
au-Prince, the author saw a couple of them, which produced 
abundantly. Its fruit is said to possess emollient properties, and 
is frequently applied with success in cases of hasmorrhoids and 
chilblains. The solitary tree just referred to, bears no fruit, 
and confirms an opinion pretty well established, that it being 



AGRICULTURE. 149 

aplanta divecia, is one of those in which the male and female 
parts of generation are upon different plants; having therefore 
no male plants, the flowers of the female were never impreg- 
nated with the farina of the male. " There is," says Lee, in 
his botanical collection from Linnaeus, " a male plant of this 
kind, in a garden at Leipsic, from whence, in April, 1749, a 
branch of male flowers was procured and suspended over a 
female one, and the experiment succeeded so well that the 
palm tree produced more than one hundred perfectly ripe 
fruit, from which there are already eleven young palm trees. 
The same experiment being repeated, the tree bare above 
two thousand ripe fruit. 

The Cinnamon Tree, or Laurus Cinnamonum, is a native of 
Ceylon ; its trunk grows to the height of twenty feet or up- 
wards, and, together with its numerous branches, is covered 
with a bark which is first green, but turns red before it arrives 
at perfection. The leaf is longer and narrower than the com- 
mon bay tree; it does not perfect its seeds in any quantity 
under six or seven years, when it becomes so plentifully load- 
ed that a single tree is almost sufiicient for a colony. It seems 
to delight in a loose moist soil, and to require a southern as- 
pect ; the trees thus planted flouiish better than those 
growing in loam, and not so much exposed to the sun. The 
seeds are a long time in coming up, and the plants make small 
progress for the first year or two. The birds appear to be 
very fond of the berries, and will probably propagate this 
tree in the same way they do many others. In a short time 
it will grow spontaneously, or without cultivation. 

Calycanthus Floridusj a sweet scented shrub, or allspice ; 



150 AGRICULTURE. 

is abundant in the middle and upper country, near low lands, 
along sandy bluffs; blossoms in April. It is used like the drsed 
and powdered berries of the laurus benzoin, or spice wood, 
which is a tolerable substitute for allspice. 

Annona, or Paparu, (Triloba) grows in rich swampy lands 
of the upper country ; its fruit is lik6 a banana, but thicker 
when ripe ; is covered like the banana with a thin dark skin, 
containing in the inside a rich pulp, tasting Hke the banana or 
persimon ; in the pulp are a few seeds like those of a per- 
simon. 

The Olive Tree has already discovered in this country its 
propensity to become naturalized to it. Its value is too well 
known to require eulogium or comment; its fruit, in its natu- 
ral state, possesses an acrid, bitter, and extremely disagreeable 
taste, which is considerably improved when prepared by an 
alkaline lessive. The most esteemed are those of Provence, 
being of a middling size, and preferable to those of Spain. 
No oil can be compared to that extracted from its fruit. The 
fragments of the seed fatten poultry ; its branches nourish 
cattle, and its wood is an excellent fuel. This tree is rapidly 
multiplied by the sprouts that arise from its root ; but it can- 
not bear severe frost. The tree is of a moderate size, gene- 
rally straight and erect. The bark is smooth when young, 
but furrowed and scaly when old. The flower-bud consists 
of one petal ; shows itself early ; often in April, always in 
May, and blooms in the end of May and June, according to 
the climate. The flower rises from the bottom of the leaf, 
disposed in bunches upon a common peduncle or footstalk ; 



AGRICULTURE. 151 

the roots are branching and horizontal, and very long ; the 
bark is of a yellowish brown, with knobs of a lighter colour 
than other parts of the root. The roots often branch from the 
tree above the surface of the ground ; it is thought that this 
peculiarity arises from the earth being carried away by acci- 
dent, as it is only seen on hilly places. The choice of soil is 
immaterial for this tree, as it is seen flourishing in rocky, 
stony, sandy, and volcanic soil. It demands a shelter from 
the winds of the north, independently of geographical posi- 
tion. It will succeed in any country where the air is of a 
proper temperature of heat, those trees are found to bear 
the spray of the sea better than most other sorts. When 
it is planted in rich moist ground it grows larger, and makes 
a finer appearance, than when planted in poor land, but the 
fruit is less esteemed. The chalky ground is esteemed best 
for it, and the oil which is made from those growing upon 
that sort of land is much finer, and will keep longer than the 
other. 

A writer in the Edinburgh Review states, that for the pur- 
pose of propagating this invaluable plant, the experiment was 
made of causing a number of turkeys to swallow ripe olives ; 
the dung containing the kernels was collected, and the whole 
placed in a stratum of earth, and frequently watered. The 
kernels were found to vegetate, and a number of young plants 
were produced. In order to produce upon olives an effect 
similar to that which they experienced from the digestive 
power of the stomach, a quantity of them was mascerated in 
an alkaline livium ; they were then sown, and olive plants 



152 AGRICULTURE. 

were produced from them. Bj the act of digestion the ohves 
were deprived of their natural oil, and the kernels hecame 
permeable to the moisture of the earth ; and the dung of the 
birds served for manure. 

Cocoa is a native tre6 of the East and West Indies, fre- 
quently growing to the height of sixty or seventy feet in the 
trunk, in a moist, sandy soil, especially near banks of rivers 
and the sea coast, where it is propagated by planting ripe 
and fresh nuts, which come up in six weeks or two months. 
The plant should not exceed thirty-sis inches in size 
when transplanted. The nurseries of cocoa demand an ex- 
cellent and well prepared soil, where the water does not 
remain. 

The coffee tree is a shrub from twelve to eighteen 
feet high, and originally a native of Arabia, but is now 
cultivated in Persia, the East and West Indies, the Span- 
ish Main, and several parts of South America. Its ever- 
green foliage resembles that of the laurel ; and at the 
base of the leaves, appear twice annually, white fragrant 
flowers, which are succeeded by a fruit resembling cherries, 
but of an unpleasant sweetish taste, each containing two 
kernels or berries. They grow in clusters, and when of a 
deep red colour are gathered, and carried to a mill to be 
manufactured into coffee beans. 

The soil suitable for coffee is to be found within the tropi- 
cal lines, excepting land composed of hard and cold clay, or 
light and sandy ground on a bed of marie. It requires, in 
preference, a soil new and free, little elevated, where the 



AGRICULTURE. 163 

coolness and the rains moderate the excessive heat of the 
torrid zone, which would overpower the plant if exposed to 
all its violence. 

The size of the trees is the most certain standard by which 
to judge of the fertility of the soil. The plantation should 
not be exposed to the north : this is more necessary, particu- 
larly if at a sufficient distance from the sea to be protected 
from the salt air, which withers the coffee. If it is level, or 
only in gentle declivities, it should be carefully cleared of 
the stumps, burning all which the axe cannot reach ; 
the bed of vegetable earth, which is the depository of all 
the principles of fertility, must be retained. 

As coffee grows in the plains of Surinam and Batavia, 
the lands required for this production may surely be found 
in the variety of soils afforded in Florida. It requires to 
be stiff, and so cool in its general tenor, as not to be sub- 
ject to the scorching heats of the sun ; the w^atery particles 
of the soil must not be allowed to remain constantly in a 
state of inundation. A gravelly soil possesses a propitious 
coolness ; even under rocks the roots will find their way 
in a suitable soil, which is soon discovered by experience. 
One acre of land, (says Mons. Chazotte,) planted by ranges, 
and the plants at five feet distant from each other, gives 
1764 plants. A man can take care of two acres, which give 
3528 plants ; each plant may, on an average, yield two pounds 
or more ; but I will reduce it to one pound ; therefore, a man 
will give yearly 3328 lbs. of coffee, which, at 25 cents per 
pound, produces 882 dollars. There is no tilling or hoeing ; 
the only labour is to prevent grass from growing between the 

20 



154 AGRICULTURE. 

plants, and the picking up of the fruit, which is the most 
laborious ; otherwise a man could easily take care of five 
acres of land. It is to be observed, that no crop is to be 
expected the first and second year ; the third year the 
plant yields a good crop ; the fourth, an abundant one, 
which it will continue to yield every year until the ground is 
exhausted, and the plant dies. For the two first years of the 
planting, all kinds of vegetables and corn may be planted be- 
tween the ranges, and will yield two crops in one year. Cot- 
ton should not. be planted between the ranges. Wherever 
the climate is not visited by black frost, the land, either dry 
or wet, will produce coffee. 

The Sugar Cane, planted in February, sinks its main root 
perpendicularly into the ground, and rises from the earth in 
the beginning of the spring ; after having kept it free from 
weeds, it presents a stalk of seven or eight feet in height, in- 
cluding its leaves. The cane is propagated by itself. When 
it is cut for the mill, they lop off about one foot from its top 
for the purpose of planting. The time for planting is according 
to the order of the seasons when rain may be expected, and 
the facility of irrigation; for the assistance of water is essential 
to the germination of the plant. The canes should be planted 
at different distances, in proportion to the fecundity of the soil ; 
in the poorest land three feet apart, and six feet in the richest. 
The sugar cane requires a rich soil, and of which the mould 
is at least one foot in depth. The cane of Otaheite ripens in 
the same season, much sooner than the common cane of the 
West Indies. It is said, that sugar obtained from the cane of 
Otaheite contains infinitely less of the essential salt than that 



AGRICULTURE. 155 

yielded by the ancient cane. Three pounds of the former 
scarcely sweetens as much as two of the latter. 

The rich lands of clay bottom, calculated for sugar, will 
become more valuable, as the cane proves luxuriant in those 
parts of the territory which have been neglected, or which 
have not yielded to experience. 

The sugar cane is not liable to the diseases of indigo, 
nor, like cotton, to be devoured by insects. 

If it is determined absolutely to force nature, by establish- 
ing on marshy ground a sugar plantation, which will cost im- 
mense labour before it becomes productive, prudence and in- 
terest requiring that the ground should be previously drained. 
If the want of a declivity forms an insuperable obstacle, one 
expedient remains, more tedious, yet still more advantageous 
to the land : Let the rain water be drawn from all parts, and 
collected upon the soil intended to be drained ; having depo- 
sited the earthy particles with which it was charged, and be- 
come clear, it should be released by opening the sluices ; 
this operation should be repeated according as the rains per- 
mit. 

This process unites the double advantage of elevating the 
soil, and of producing a bed of vegetable earth, from which it 
derives pecuHar fecundity. This kind of land is always too 
vigorous for the sugar cane. The plant acquires an astonish- 
ing increase, but is so watery that the most skilful refiner is 
unable to obtain sugar from it. This defect is corrected by 
planting the ground with rice for two successive years. 

The planting of rice has the singular and double advantage 
of elevating the land by the stocks it leaves, and of subduing 



156 AGRICULTURE. 

it by drawing off the subtile juices. When the rice ceases to 
be productive, the sugarcane replaces it very advantageously. 
This method of correcting marshy grounds, through the as- 
sistance of rain water, is doubly serviceable to the lands in 
the neighbourhood of the sea, because it frees them at the 
same time from those saline particles which are unfriendly to 
vegetation. 

On each weeding, attention should be given to cover the 
young plant with a part of the earth left on the edges of each 
hole at the time of planting. It ripens according to the sea- 
son it experiences : rains retard, drought accelerates its matu- 
rity. Much depends also on the nature of the soil. When 
the cane assumes a yellow colour, it is an infallible sign of the 
good quality of the sugar it contains. It is not thus with the 
canes of marshy lands and hollows or bottoms ; they retain 
the green colour whatever may be their age, and thus an- 
nounce to the refiner the difficulty he will experience in ob- 
taining the sugar. The distance-of the joints furnishes also a 
certain criterion to determine the quality of the cane : in pro- 
portion as they are nearer to each other, the plant is inferior. 
It is of importance in the manufacture of sugar to take the cane 
at the true point of its maturity. Before this period it will 
yield much water, and but little sugar. 

The Annato or Roucou, is a red kind of dye stuff, which 
gives the first tint to red, blue, yellow, green, brown, and 
other coloured cloth. The tree which produces it grows in 
many parts of America. It is about the size of a plumb tree, 
but much more thick and bushy ; the bark of it is blackish ; 
the leaves are large, stony, hard, and of a deep green eolour- 



AGRICULTURE. 157 

Twice a year it puts out red or jflesh coloured flowers in large 
bunches, which resemble the flowers of the wild rose or 
eglantine, to which succeed bunches of pods covered with 
prickles, like those which grow on the husk or bur of a chest- 
nut, but not quite so large ; these, on being opened, are found 
full of seed shaped like those of the coriander, and covered 
with a flesh or carnation-coloured pellicle. 

Arrow-root, so called by the English ; by the French, ma- 
nioc and herb aujleche; by the Charaibs, toulola, and by the 
Florida Indians, conti, grows spontaneously, and in great abun- 
dance, in the peninsula : it constitutes a great article of food. 
The leaves of this plant grow in bunches, and are shaped 
nearly like those of sweet potatoes. The wood is soft and 
brittle, and the plant grows much better from slips, than from 
the seed it produces. The principal root pushes out three 
or four other roots around it. Independent of those, six or 
seven more roots issue from the stem, of a size and length 
proportioned to the age of the tree, and goodness of the soil. 
The ordinary size of the roots is equal to that of the beet, but 
sometimes they grow much larger. They are of the con- 
sistency of parsnips, and commonly ripen in about eight 
months. The best is called the white, or osier manioc, and it 
is that only which ripens in so short a period. The broad- 
leaved, red, and other sorts of this plant, require sixteen or 
eighteen months to bring them to maturity. The manioc is 
planted in trenches, about two feet and half asunder, and six 
inches deep. 

When the roots are taken up, the bark or skin is scraped 
off, the same as parsnips are done, and thrown into some 



158 AGRICULTURE. 

vessel, where they are well washed, and afterwards scraped 
and grated fine, something hke horse-radish. After this it is 
put into a cylindrical strainer for the purpose of expressing 
the juice, which is of a poisonous quality ; and the operation 
of expressing it is much facilitated by the contractile power 
of the strainer. When the manioc is dry, it is grated and 
pounded into fiour, and from it is made the cassada, which is 
the bread used by the natives in many parts of America. It 
is highly necessary to express the juice ; for while that 
is retained, it proves mortal to man and beast. The nu- 
tritive properties of this beautiful plant are well known 
every where, particularly in the West Indies, where they look 
to it as provision in the calamitous event of hurricanes, it be- 
ing exempt from the danger of other plants. Its medicinal 
virtues are recognized throughout the world, not only from 
the roots being, as a ptisan, a powerful antidote against the 
poisoned arrows of the Indians, but from the flour being 
made into a jelly, much used by infants and for invahds. 
For more particulars as to this plant, see Cassava. 

The Pomegranate is common in the gardens of this country: 
it has a short stem rising only four or five feet high, bearing 
narrow leaves, and minute red blossoms, which are succeeded 
by its fruit. The fruit of this shrub is agreeable to the palate ; 
and in common with other sweet summer fruits, allays heat, 
mitigates thirst, and is mildly aperient. Its rind is powerfully 
astringent ; on which account it is, together with the bitterish 
red flowers, occasionally employed in diarrhoeas, dysenteries, 
and other disorders proceeding from debility. 

Among other experiments made with diflferent parts of this 



AGRICULTURE. 159 

tree in dyeing, Bohmer mentions, that from the deciduous 
leaves, in autumn, when they present a brownish red shade, 
he obtained by boiling them, a thick, muddy liquor, in which 
cotton, silk, and woollen cloths, acquired a good French blue 
colour. These materials had been previously immersed in 
a solution of green vitriol ; and, after becoming dry, were by 
different trials plunged into vinegar and soap water, neither 
of which in the least alFected their tint, so that it was doubt- 
ful whether they were dark blue or black. In Germany, the 
tanners formerly employed the bark of this tree as a substi- 
tute for sumach. 

Cassava^ or latropha Manihot, Lin. a native of South Ameri- 
ca, eminently deserves to be transplanted to our climate ; for 
it is asserted that one acre of its roots produces a quantity of 
food equal to that usually obtained from six acres of seed 
corn. This shrub grows from four to seven feet high, is 
knotted, covered with an ash coloured bark, and pithy 
within; its broad, palmated leaves, together with its white 
and rose coloured blossoms, render it a very beautiful plant. 
A mild nutricious food is obtained from these roots, in the 
following manner. Immediately after being gathered, they 
are washed, and stripped with a knife of their thick rind ; 
the heart, a pulpy mass, either white or yellowish, is re- 
peatedly passed between cylinders, and turned by mill work, 
till all the juice is expressed. The dry pulp being thus 
freed from the poisonous juice, is a compound of farina and 
vegetable fibre, and requires no farther preparation than to 
be thoroughly dried over a slow fire. In this state it will 
keep for several months in close, vessels ; and when wanted. 



160 AGRICULTURE. 

it may be formed into cakes, by kneading up with water, and 
baking ; or into pottage, by boiling it with water and a httle 
Cayenne pepper. The pure farina is the tapioca of the 
shops : it is separated from the fibrous part, by taking a 
handful of the pulp, after the juice is extracted, and work- 
ing it in the hand till a thick white cream appears upon 
the surface : this being scraped off and washed in water, 
gradually subsides to the bottom, and after pouring off the 
liquor, the remaining moisture is dissipated over a slow fire, 
constantly stirring the farina, so that at length it concretes 
into grains about the size of sago, which become hard by 
keeping. This is the purest and most nutritive part of the 
pulp, and forms a very wholesome and palatable food, 
which, if preserved in a dry place, may be kept for any 
length of time. 

Mango Tree, or Mangofera, a native of the East Indies, 
whence it has been imported into the West Indies, where 
it has been very productive, particularly at Jamaica. This 
tree attains a considerable size ; its fruit, when fully ripe, is as 
large as a goose egg, and greatly esteemed both in the East 
and West Indies, on account of its invigorating odour and 
^•esinous substance, which are said to be beneficial in pul- 
monary complaints. Beneath its rough shell, there grows 
a kernel similar to that of almonds, and which may be 
eaten either fresh, or preserved from the expressed juice. 
The Indians prepare wine from it, and the remainder produces 
excellent flour. Miller is of opinion, that the stones will not 
vegetate unless they be planted shortly after the fruit is ripe. 
He therefore suggests the expedient of importing the young 
plants from India in boxes tilled with earth. 



ACSRICULTURfi. 161 

Vanilla Epidendrum, of the gynandria and diandria class, is 
an exotic parasitical plant growing in Mexico, from whence its 
long slender pods containing numerous black grains are im- 
ported into the United States. These seeds are warm and 
aromatic, possessing an oily taste and a fragrant odour similar 
to that of the Peruvian balsam. When the fresh pods are 
opened, they exhale such powerful fragrance as to intoxicate 
the person opening them. 

Benne Plant, whose growth is rapid, will admit of an exten- 
sive cultivation, the soil and climate being congenial to its 
production. The seed, bearing a resemblance to pearl bar- 
ley, contains round grains of an oily substance, and affords 
luxurious repasts to the blacks, who use them in cakes, and 
as a pottage, as well as in composition with sugar. It pro- 
duces one of the best substitutes for olive oil that can be 
found. This is proved by the Louisianians, who, like 
their progenitors, prefer oil to butter, particularly in warm 
climates, and who have made it in such quantities as to 
export some to the northern states ; but they have not 
thought it worthy of such farther attention as to interfere 
with the staple commodities of sugar and cotton, and there- 
fore have neglected it. This plant thrives best on the low 
lands. 

The Sea-side Grape of East Florida, is of the octandria 
class, and trigynia order. The tree in the southern regions is 
large, and sometimes of the first rate. But in the most north- 
ern parts it is only a shrub. When large, the caulis is a 
teretis, bearing its branches ramosissimi. The branches are 
irregularly articulate. When a shrub, there appears no cau- 

21. 



1^2 AGRICULTURE. 

lis, the branches shining as if it were immediately from the 
root ; they are hollow and spungy in the heart. 

The Floridian Olea Forma Chrysobalanus, or Chrysohalanus 
Repentis. This is a scarce plant, and believed to be 
peculiar to this province. It is in full flower in May. 
The flowers are produced on an irregular cyma, divided 
into lesser cyma almost lastigate ; the universal peduncle 
generally rises at the foot of the petiole, and there 
directly forms one of its partial cyma, in such a manner 
that the leaf serves as a sort of improper stipula ; or rather 
the universal peduncle is ramious and the first partial one is 
axillary. Each partial cyma has a small universal involucrum, 
and each peduncle has a partial one. But the peduncle of 
the general cyma has none, nor any thing like it, except the 
abovementioned leaf. 

The flowers are of the class icosandria, and order monogy- 
nia ; the calyx is a proper concave, and its base or receptacle 
cup is rather ofleous, having its segments rifler and quinquefid, 
the corolla fastened by its unguis. Between the receptacle 
and the inner side of the perianthum, the corrolla is alternate 
with the perianthium. The filaments are fifteen in number, each 
having an oval compressed anthera. Each anthera has three 
cells, and they are all joined, as it were, in one fasciculus 
perpendicularly over the pistillum ; the filaments being inflex, 
the pistillum is white, and of a conic form, having a globose 
stigma of a bright colour, and is situate on one side of the 
germen, and afterwards becomes a drupa of an oval form, 
somewhat in colour and size like the olive. 

This plant is thus described by Pursh, taken from Mich. Fl. 



AGRICULTURE. 16S 

Am. p. 283: — Oblong folius — 403 chrysobalanus gen. pi. 850. 
flowers white in very large panicles. They are generally 
diioceous ; the fruit the size of a common plum. This shrub 
runs with its branches under ground, without making any fibres 
for a considerable distance, and its side branches appear from 
one to two feet above ground, as a small shrub ; it might 
more properly be considered a tree under ground. 



AGmGULTURE. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OP TREES, S^LC. THE GROWTH OP FLORIDA, 



A§b, common 3 
blackj 



Fraxinus tormentosa, 
nigrti,* 



Bay, sweet, 
Beach, 
Beam, horn, 
Bermudian Mulberry, 
Briar, sensitive, 
Buck Eye, 
Bud, red, 

Cabbage Tree, 

Cane, 

Cassina, yaphon. 

Cedar, redj 

Chestnut, 

Cherry, wild, 

Chincapin, 

China Root, 

Cotton Wood, 

Cypress, 

Creeper, or Trumpetj 

Dogwood, 
Dock, water. 



Bahrus barbonia, 
Fagus sylvestris. 
Carpinus Americana, 
Callacapa Americana. 
Mimosa instia. 
^sculus jiava, 
Cercis Canadensis. 

Palmitto of Walter; 
Arundo gigantea. 
Ilex vomitoria, 
Juniperus Virginiana, 
Fagus Americana, 
Cerassus Virginiana, 
Castumea pumila, 
Smilax China. 
Populus deltoides. 
Cupressus disthia, 
Begnonia radicara, 

Cornus Florida. 
Nymphia^ 



AGR 

Elder-Box, 


ICULTUKE. 

Acer negundo. 


Elm, red, 


Ulmus rubra. 


mucilaginous, 


Americana. 


water, 


aquatica. 


Gum, sweet, 


Liquidamber styracistua 


common swamp, 


Nyssa integriflora. 


Hickory, shell bark, 


Juglans squamosa. 


black, 


laciniosa. 


black walnut, 


nigra. 


Holly, 


Ilex opaca. 


Jack-Blact, 


Quercus ferruginea. 


Iron-Wood, 


Carpinus ostrya. 


Laurel, great, 


Magnolia grandijlora. 


Locust, 


Bolina pseuda. 


Longmoss, 


Tillondsia usencori. 


Loblolly, or Water Pine, 


Punus tcedea. 


Locust, honey, 


Gleditsia triacanthos. 


Lindon, or Limetree, 


Tilia pubenscens^ 


Maple, sugar. 


Acer, saccharinum. 


water. 


negundo. 


red, 


rubrum. 


black sugar, 


nigrum. 



165 



Misletoe, 


Viscum. 


Mulberry, 


Morus rubra. 


Oak, blacks 


Quercus nigra. 


red, 


rubrac 


live, 


virens. 


white, 


alba. 


Spanish, 


falcata. 


water, 


aquaticus. 


chestnut. 


prunus. 


Pine, pitch, 


Punus rigida. 


Persimon, 


Diosphorus Virginiana 


Poplar, 


Lireodendron tulipera. 


Pecan, 


Juglans Illinois, 


Papaw, 


Annona tribola. 


Plurp, wild, 


Prunus Chickasaw. 


Pine, 


Pinus, 


broom. 


palaustris. 


Palmetto, great, 


Corypha. 


Passion Flower, 


Passiflora incarnata* 


Poke, 


Phytolacca decadra. 


Poison Vine, 


Rhus radianus. 


Ratapla, 


Bignonia catalpha. 


Sassafras, 


Lauris sassafras* 


Sumach Flower, 


Rhus. 



AGRICULTURE. 167 

Sycamore, Platinus occidentalis. 

Spice Wood, Laurus benzoin. 

Tulip Tree, Lireodendron tulipera, 

Tupelo, M/ssa sylvatica. 

Willow, black, Salix nigra. 



SHRUBS AND PLANTS. 

The grape vine, in its wild state, is very abundant in 
the woods, and has been improved. Wine has been made 
from the grape of tolerable good flavour. The muscatel and 
imported grapes thrive wonderfully. It is said, that the soil 
generally used, and which is most productive of the finest 
wine, is of an inferior quality, (See Appendix.) 

Cacona, (used as tea,) senna shrub, sarsaparilla, and myrtle, 
grow in this province, and have the medicinal and other 
properties ascribed to them : the latter yields a green wax 
for candles, well known throughout the United States. 

The opuntia, or prickly pear, affords a handsome fruit, 
which, although troublesome to gather, is pleasant to the 
taste when ripe, or as a preserve. It is valuable on account of 
the cochineal insect, found upon it in great plenty ; and 
yields a scarlet dye, too well known to require other 
remark, than that it would be highly important to introduce 
the real cochineal, since doubts are entertained as to the genu- 
ineness of those found in thisj province. Beside the cul- 



168 AGRICULTURE. 

ture of the cochineal, the tea plant and the barilla, might 
be made very productive, when under the fostering hand of 
American ingenuity and enterprise ; and asmost of the plants 
in the province partake of an aromatic and medicinal pro- 
perty, no doubt can be entertained of the growth of the 
cinnamon and pimento. 



ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 169 



ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 



The Bear and Deer afford, in the interior parts of this 
Province, a most abundant supply of fresh meat for the tra- 
veller ; while their skins serve as articles of export. The 
buffalo is said to be among the number of wild beasts, but 
not commonly seen. To these may be added the quadrupeds 
common to the southern states, such as racoons, opossums, 
squirrels, lynxes, and wolves, most of which are troublesome 
to raisers of the smaller live stock. 

This Province formerly abounded in large flocks of horned 
cattle and horses ; but since its cession to Spain, it has be- 
come quite destitute of both : the frequent depredations of 
the Indians, of fugitives from different countries, and of the 
various parties under the specious appellation of patriots, 
have contributed to this destruction. 

Here it may be important to remark, that the race of Spa- 
nish horses crossed by the American are considered better 
calculated for service. Males are also recommended. — 
Sheep will furnish excellent mutton in the dry parts of the 
country, where pasture can be produced devested of the 
cockspur, which is not only very troublesome, but detrimen- 
tal to these animals, as they are apt to swallow the burrs. 
The wool of those far south is apt to become hairy, and unfit 

22 



170 ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 

for the purposes of manufacture. Goats would rather impair 
than improve a country, destined to become the botanical 
nursery of the United States. 

Alligators and Rattlesnakes are numerous ; but though they 
are held in great dread by the timid, they are inoffensive, un- 
less roused to protect themselves. The Alligator, in particu- 
lar, must be often awaked from its profound sleep on the banks 
of the rivers, before it will attack the traveller. Its shell 
is so impenetrable, that a bullet will not injure it, unless 
it strikes the head between the eyes. The Rattlesnake, and 
the tail part of the Alligator, are sometimes eaten by the 
hungry traveller. The following story is told by Bartram : 

" I accompanied my father on a journey into East Florida, 
to attend a congress that met at Fort Picolata, on the banks of 
the St. John's, for the purpose of forming a treaty with the 
Creek Nation respecting territory. After the Indians, and 
a detachment from the garrison of St. Augustine, had arrived, 
and encamped separately, near the fort, some days elapsed 
before the business of the treaty came on, waiting the arrival 
of a vessel from St. Augustine, on board of which were the 
presents for the Indians. My father employed this time of 
leisure in little excursions round about the fort. One morn- 
ing, being the day the treaty commenced, I attended him on 
a botanical excursion. Some time after we had been ram- 
bling in a swamp, about a quarter of a mile from the camp, I 
being ahead a few paces, my father bid me observe a 
rattlesnake, just before me. I stopped, and saw the 
monster formed in a high spiral coil, not half his length from 
my feet ; another step forward would have put my life in his 



ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 171 

power, as I must have touched, if not stumbled over him ; 
the fright and perturbation of my spirits at once excited re- 
sentment ; and at that time I was entirely insensible to grati- 
tude or mercy. I instantly cut off a sapling, and soon des- 
patched him. This serpent was about six feet in length, and 
as thick as an ordinary man's leg. The rencounter deterred 
us from proceeding on our researches for that day. So I 
cut off a long tough withe or vine, which I fastened round 
the neck of the slain serpent, and dragged him after me, en- 
tering the camp with him in triumph ; and was soon sur- 
rounded by the amazed multitude, both Indians and my coun- 
trymen. The adventure soon reached the ears of the com- 
mander, who sent an officer to request, that if the snake had 
not bit himself, he might have him served up for his dinner. 
I readily delivered up the body of the snake to the cooks ; 
and being that day invited to dine at the governor's table, 
saw the snake served up in several dishes, Governor Grant 
being fond of the flesh of the rattlesnake : I tasted it, but 
could not swallow it. I, however, was sorry that I killed the 
serpent, after coolly recollecting every circumstance : He 
certainly had it in his power to kill me almost instantly, and 
I make no doubt that he was conscious of it. I promised 
myself that I would never again be accessary to the death of 
•a rattlesnake, which promise I have invariably kept. This 
dreaded animal is easily killed ; a stick no thicker than a 
man's thumb is sufficient to kill the largest at one stroke, if 
well directed, either on the head or across the back ; nor 
can they make their escape by running off; indeed, they 
never attempt it when attacked." 



172 ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 

The Gouffre is the resident of the pine barrens ; it lives 
principally under ground, except when it wants food and 
water, and is said to live upon vegetables. The shell is about 
fifteen inches long and twelve inches wide. It is remarkable 
for its strength, being able to move without much difficulty 
upon the ground, with a man standing upon its back. It digs 
a hole in the ground, the direction of which is a depressed 
angle of about thirty degrees and ten feet deep. In the bot- 
tom a nest of young rattlesnakes is often found in the early 
part of the summer. The gouflfre generally remains some- 
time at the entrance of the cave, before it ventures abroad, 
and on the appearance of danger, retreats. It resembles the 
loggerhead turtle, and brings forth its young in the same way. 
It shields itself from danger by closing up its shell, and is 
rarely seen any distance from its den. 

Thus far Mr. Brown's Western Gazetteer treats of the 
gouffre, to which I can only add, that they are very common 
in Florida, and that they afford a mess, when properly cooked, 
little inferior to the green turtle, which is also found in great 
quantities on the more southern coast. 

In addition to the gouffre, are several species of tortoise of 
an amphibious character, affording delicious food. 

Sea Cozo, or Manate; this amphibious animal, which is by 
some said to be the fabulous mermaid of antiquity, has been 
found in the interior of these provinces in the winter sea- 
son. Bartram relates, that he saw a part of a skeleton of 
one, which the Indians had killed some time before.- — 
The grinding teeth were about an inch in diameter, the 
ribs eighteen inches in length, and two and a half in thick- 



ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 173 

ness, bending with a gentle curve ; this bone is esteemed 
equal to ivory. The flesh of this creature is counted whole- 
some and pleasant food. The name given it by naturahsts is 
Trichechus Manatus, but that by the Indians is one signifying 
the Big Beaver. There were three of them seen, at one time, 
in the spring, by a trader from Talahasochte ; they live chiefly 
on aquatic grass and weeds. They are said to weigh from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand three hundred pounds. 

The Lizards, some of which are of the most beautiful green, 
and from which they change their colour, may therefore be 
considered surprizing phenomena ; they are perfectly harm- 
less, and are protectors of the gardens against caterpillars and 
minor insects ; they often become a prey to the chicken and 
more domestic snakes ; the largest are about seven inches in 
length, with a large red gill. There is, also, the striped lizard 
or scorpion ; some of a large size, and of a copper colour. 

The Jigger, or Chiqiie, is a kind of flesh worm, which can 
be resisted only by the most perfect cleanhness, and frequent 
use of salt water ; it may therefore be presumed that they are 
a great annoyance to slaves. 



74 WEST FLORIDA. 



WEST FLORIDA. 



West Florida is in lat. 29 42, and bounded, according to 
ancient limits, east, by Apalachicola River, south, by the 
Gulf of Mexico, west, by Lake Ponchartrain and the River 
Mississippi, and north, by the Mississippi Territory and Ten- 
nessee. 

The question of boundary, so long and strenuously disputed, 
may now be considered as settled between the nations of 
Europe and the United States, the entire sovereignty of 
these territories being vested in the latter government by the 
cession. A regard to the rights of individuals is expected 
from our national legislature, and will doubtless be claimed by 
many persons whose pretensions are founded upon grants ob- 
tained previous to, and during the protracted negociations 
between our government and that of Spain. 

The northern boundaries of West Florida, according to the 
commission given to Governor Johnstone, in 1764, on esta- 
blishing the colony, were fixed and described to be from the 
junction of the river Yazoo, lying in 32 12 north lat. and from 
thence in a line due east, to the river Apalachicola; whereas, 
by the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, 
the boundary line runs along the middle of the Mississippi to 
the 31st degree of north lat, and from thence due east to the 



WEST FLORIDA. 175 

Apalachicola ; as is more particularly mentioned in the 6th ar- 
ticle of the Treaty of Fontainbleau, 3d November, 1762: — 
" With regard to the limits of the British and French territo- 
ries on the continent of America, it is agreed, that for the 
future, the confines between the dominions of His Britannic 
Majesty and His Most Christain Majesty, in that part of the 
world, shall be irrevocably fixed by a line drawn along the 
middle of the river Mississippi from the source, as far as the 
river Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the 
middle of this river, and of the lakes Maurepas and Ponchar- 
train to the sea ; and to this purpose the Most Christain King 
cedes in full right and guaranties to his British Majesty the 
river and port of Mobile, and every part that he possesses, or 
ought to have possessed, on the left side of the river Missis- 
sippi, except the town of New-Orleans, and the island on 
which it is situated, which shall remain to France. Pro- 
vided, &;c." 

In the report of the commissioners on the part of 
liie United States, Messrs. Madison, Gallatin and Lincoln, 
on the 10th February, 1803, it is stated, that " the territory of 
the United States south of the state of Tennessee extends in 
breadth 275 miles from the 31st to the 35th degree of north 
lat. From east to west, its greatest length from the river 
Chatahouchee to the Mississippi, measures three hundred and 
eighty miles along the northern boundary of West Florida. 
The length of its northern boundary, along the state of Ten- 
nessee, is not precisely ascertained ; but it is believed that the 
average length of the whole may, without material error, be 



176 WEST FLORIDA. 

estimated at three hundred miles ; and the contents of the ter- 
ritory at fifty-two milHons of acres. 

The only portions of that vast extent to which the Indian 
title has been extinguished are, a tract of about one million 
and a half of acres, extending along the Mississippi from the 
mouth of the river Yazoo, outwardly to the Spanish line, and 
another tract at least equal in extent, and extending between 
the rivers Pascagoula and Mobile, or Tombigbee, more than 
fifty miles north of that line. 

The view taken of this part of Florida by the French . Go- 
vernment, under the Emperor Napoleon, is thus laid down by 
M. Talleyrand, in his correspondence with President Mon- 
roe, then Minister Plenipotentiary to the Courts of France 
and Spain, who was authorized to treat for the Floridas. 

" All the territories lying on the east of the Mississippi and 
the River Iberville, and south of the 32d degree of north lat. 
bears the name of Florida. It has been constantly designated 
in that way during the time that Spain held it. His Im- 
perial Majesty has moreover authorized me to declare to 
you, that at the beginning of the year 11, General Bour- 
nonville was charged to open a new negotiation with Spain 
for the acquisition of the Floridas. This project, which has 
not been followed by any treaty, is proof that France had not 
acquired, by the treaty retroceding Louisiana, the country 
east of the Mississippi." 

^ Pensacola, the capital of West Florida, is an old estab- 
lished town, situated on the west side, and in front of the 
bay of the same name, twenty-five miles long and eight 



WEST FLORIDA. 17? 

wide, and with Spiritu Santu, the most spacious and secure 
against every wind that is in the Gulf of Mexico ; remark- 
able not for its capacity, but for its salubrious character. 

It lies in lat. 30 28 n. and Ion. 10 w. of Washington ; or, ac- 
cording to the more recent observations of Mr. Ellicot, about 
30 43 N. and, by his admeasurement from the Mississippi, 
and traverse of the Conieuch River, about 87° 14' 15" west 
longitude from Greenwich. 

This town is in the form of a parallelogram, or oblong 
square, having regular and wide streets of sand, with side 
pavements of brick. It is one mile long, and one quarter 
wide, at the foot of a hill extending to the rear. It is about 
thirty-two miles from the sea, having an elegant stone 
house for the governor, with a tower, and about two hun- 
dred private houses, which are in a ruinous condition, 
being built of wood. It is pleasantly situated, being 
flanked by two rivulets, which afford an abundant supply 
of most excellent water. In the centre of the town is 
a stockade fort, and in front is one of the several wharfs 
which have been erected ; and nearly north, in the rear, are 
the ruins of an old fort, which, with a marsh interspersed 
with innumerable springs, separate the town from the 
highlands. On the skirts are, on the west, dry lands, with low 
brushwood, then high brushwood and swamp ; on the n. e. a 
burying ground; and on the east, a wet, rushy swamp, bordering 
northerly with forest, having small underwood ; then open 
pine woods. There were foi-merly some handsome barracks 
built by the British, but since burnt. The egress from the 
town is northerly by a causeway five feet high. There are 

23 



178 WEST FLORIDA. 

several block-houses commanding the principal streets, and 
to guard against the approaches of the Red Sticks. 

The seat of the provincial government of the British was 
at this place, which, together with the necessary expenditures 
in the garrison, gave it great advantages in trade. In the 
estimation of its friends, it promised to become a formidable^ 
rival to New-Orleans. But their hopes were blasted ; for 
it was besieged by Don Galvez, in 1781 ; and, after 
two months perseverance. General Campbell, with about 
a thousand effective men, surrendered to a force nearly 
eight times their number, upon terms of capitulation honour- 
able to both parties ; since that period it has remained 
under the Spanish government, without any other inter- 
mission than that which was prescribed by imperious 
policy during the late wars between the United States and 
Great Britain and the Seminole Indians, when the Americas 
troops under General Jackson obtained a temporarypossession. 

Although Pensacola stands in a very sandy situation, yet 
by a little industry it can be made to afford a large supply of 
vegetables, which, with orange, peach, fig, pomegranate, and 
other fruit trees, that are produced there, must render it 
worthy of immediate settlement. 

About a mile to the eastward of Pensacola, between it and 
the English point, is the East Lagoon, which, after turning to 
the N. w. four or five miles, receives the Six Mile Brook. 
This is a pretty little winding stream ; on the east side of 
it is an iron mine, where a large natural magnet has been 
fouad. There is a fine mineral spring, of the chalybeate 
kind, near the mouth of the lagoon, of which there are several 
others in this country. 



WEST FLORIDA. 179 

The following is a picture of British colonial legislation at 
Pensacola, in January, 1770, drawn by a person of high 
standing in society there : 

"Affairs in our unlucky province have as yet been upon a very 
unstable footing. Whether this ill fate is still doomed to 
be our lot, or whether we are about to emerge from such 
unhappy circumstances, a little time will discover. 

" But if you just fancy to yourself a set of sycophants, who 
after the year '45, in grasping at all the acts of court favour 
themselves, represented all honest men who stood in their 
way, or made their baseness known, as Jacobites, and you will 
have some idea of a paltry cabal of West Floridians, who have 
lately aimed at getting all the little power and prosperity of 
the province into their own hands, and who have therefore given 
their opponents the epithet of the Bostonian Liberty Boys. 

" Pensacola has been justly famed for vexatious law-suits. 
It is so contrived indeed, that if a poor man owes but five 
pounds, and has not got so much ready money, or if he 
disputes some dollars of imposition, that may be in the ac- 
count, or if he is guilty of shaking his fist at any rascal that 
has abused him, he is sure to be prosecuted, and the costs 
in every suit are about seven pounds sterling. Nay, great 
struggles have been made to confine all these things, and 
even the most trivial accounts, to the decision of one single 
judge, and the pleadings pro and con, as well as the pre- 
requisites consequent thereon, to two attorneys only, who act 
implicitly as the judge directs ; for as the prosecutor gene- 
rally retains both, it is at the option of the judge, who shall 
act for the defendant; and to be sure, he will in that case act 
with vigour. 



180 WEST FLORIDA. 

" This is pretty much our case at present ; the consequences 
are but too plain. But, as the entire power of making, as well 
as executing law here, has not as yet got entirely into such 
hands, a grand push was lately made to pack our assembly, 
which would have answered that laudable purpose, but it failed, 
though even supported by certain gentlemen who had fouled 
their fingers. Two of the intended members were therefore 
made counsellors, together with one of the prime ministers to the 
late worthy Lieut. Governor, who was the object, or rather 
the tool, in whose name all these manoeuvres were carried 
on. He was his majesty's representative, and therefore must 
be supported ; yet he, and these honourable gentlemen, have 
since been disgracefully dismissed. Do his friends in your 
side of the country now make their brag of these things, or 
do they deny the alliance ? that is most probable : however, 
it is well known here, that by the help of certain persons 
not among us, he did some of these gentlemen very material 
services. Poor creature ! the thousand dollars which he 
charged for the repairs of the government house, was not the 
only thing by which John Bull was most scandalously im- 
posed on, though I believe it was the principal article which 
his honour pocketed. 

"I have known this province for little more than four 
years, yet I could name to you a set of men who may brag 
of one governor resigned, one horsewhipped, and one whom 
they led by the nose, and supported while it suited their 
purpose, and then betrayed him. What the next turn of 
affairs will be, God knows. But these are disagreeable sub- 
jects, and I shaJ leave them only with this observation, that 



WEST FLORIDA. 181 

it is ten to one, whether what I now write you, does not fall 
into some of their hands ; for the practice of opening and 
detaining letters is very commoa here ; nor is it even looked 
upon as disgraceful, but on the contrary is laughed at, or 
applauded as a piece of dexterous policy ; — but none of those 
people can ever expect to see any favourable picture of 
themselves. 1 think it is immaterial, to say any thing of the 
performance of William Stork — M. D. only according to our 
West Florida reading : this title is a modern dentist. As 
for myself, it is said, I study law too much ; that is, I am 
able to discover when a lawyer would pass his own ipse 
dixit upon us for the laws of our country, and when the 
Georgia forms are like to be crammed down our throats, 
though contrary to the express statutes of Great Britain, 
since his majesty has always declared that our laws shall 
be as nearly agreeable to them as may be." 

The above exhibit became the subject of remonstrance 
from the inhabitants to the British ministry, who complained 
also to them of the governor and his proceedings ; but they 
were treated with utter disregard. 

The only traces of commerce to be discovered among this 
anti-commercial people, consisted in the peltries obtained from 
the Indians by the house of Panton, Leslie, and Forbes, under 
licenses from the government ; in a few boards, shingles, and 
corn, transported to the Havana ; and in a miserable coasting 
trade through Lake Ponchartrain with New-Orleans, from 
whence, and Mobile, were derived their principal supphes of 
foreign goods. 



182 WEST FLORIDA. 

The prospect of an extensive trade with the Spaniards 
induced many people to settle in this town, which they did 
at a great expense ; their expectations, however, were 
thwarted, as their trade, which was carried on under Spanish 
colours, and promised great advantages, was entirely destroyed 
by the British cruisers. 

The principal effort, at the present period, will be more 
particularly employedupon the natural productions of thecoun- 
try, consisting of sugar, indigo, cotton, rice, hemp, tobacco, 
and lumber, which, with the Indian trade, will afford ample 
profits, until a more liberal policy shall extend them to our 
southern neighbours ; whom it is more profitable to receive 
with their dollars in our ports, than to furnish with goods con- 
veyed to them in our vessels. This, for obvious reasons, is 
very generally understood. 

In Maryland and Virginia, where the heats are greater, 
and the soil moist, especially on lands not cleared, we 
fmd agues, fevers, and fluxes, very distressing to stran- 
gers ; though the natives in general are pretty healthy, 
and sometimes long-lived. In South Carohna, we find these 
diseases much more obstinate, acute and violent. In that 
state, especially in the months of July and August, during the 
growth of the rice, the fevers which attack strangers are very 
anomalous, not remitting or intermitting soon, but partaking 
much of the nature of those which are so fatal to the 
newly arrived Europeans in the West India climates. The 
same may be said of Georgia and East Florida; during these 
two months, the diseases of strangers approach still nearer to 
those of the West India Islands. At Pensacola, where the 



WEST FLORIDA. 183 

soil is sandy and quite barren, the English have suffered much 
by sickness ; some, for want of vegetables, died of the scurvy, 
but a far greater part of fevers. The excessive heat of the 
weather has sometimes produced, in this place, a severe fe- 
ver, similar to the Yellow Fever. This, in the year 1765, 
proved very fatal to a regiment of soldiers sent from England 
unseasoned to such climates, they having been landed there 
in the height of the sickly season. It raged chiefly in the 
fort, where the air in the soldiers' barracks was extremely 
sultry and unhealthy ; the sea-breeze being shut out by the 
walls of the fort. And it is worthy of remark, that during the 
fatal rage of this fever at Pensacola, those that lived on board 
the ships in the harbour escaped it. Pensacola, however, is 
of late, esteemed more healthy than Mobile, where intermit- 
ting fevers prevail in the months of July, August, and Sep- 
tember. 



APPENDIX. 



Extracts ft'om the definitive Treaty conchided between England 
and France, JVbr. 3d, 1762. 

Art. 6. In order to re-establish peace on the most solid 
and lasting foundations, and to remove for ever every sub- 
ject of dispute vrith regard to the limits of the British and 
French territories on the continent of America, it is agreed, 
that for the future the confines between the dominions of 
his Britannic Majesty, and those of his most Christian Ma- 
jesty in that part of the world, shall be irrevocably fixed by 
a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi, from 
the source as far as the Iberville, and from thence by a line 
drawn along the middle of this river and of the lakes Mau- 
repas and Ponchartrain to the sea ; and to this purpose the 
most Christian King cedes in full right, and guaranties to his 
Britannic Majesty, the river and port of Mobile, and every 
thing that he possesses or ought to have possessed on the left 
side of the river Mississippi, except the town of New Or- 
leans and the Island on which it is situated, which shall 
remain to France ; provided that the navigation of the river 
Mississippi shall be equally free as well to the subjects of Great 
Britain as to those of France, in its whole length and breadth, 
from its source to the sea ; and that part expressly which is 
between the said island of New Orleans and the right bank 
of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its 
mouth. It is further stipulated, that ,the vessels belonging to 

24 



186 APPENDIX. 

the subjects of either nation, shall not be stopped, visited, or 
subject to the payment of any duty whatever. 

Art. 19th. His Catholic Majesty cedes and guaranties 
in full right to his Britannic Majesty, all that Spain possesses 
on the continent of North America, to the east or to the 
south east of the river Mississippi ; and his Britannic Majesty 
agrees to grant to the inhabitants of this country, above 
ceded, the liberty of the Catholic religion. He will, in con- 
sequence give the most exact and the most effectual orders, 
that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the wor- 
ship of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman 
church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit. His 
Britannic Majesty further agrees, that the Spanish inhabi- 
tants, or others, who would have been subjects to the Catho- 
lic King, in the said countries, may retire in all safety and 
freedom, &c. 



Extract from Governor Granfs Proclamation, dated St. Au- 
gustine, 1th October, 1763. 

And whereas, it may greatly contribute to the speedy set- 
tling of this His Majesty's province, to inform all persons of 
the healthiness, soil, and productions thereof, I do in this pro- 
clamation, further publish and make known, that the former 
inhabitants lived to great ages. His Majesty's troops, since 
their taking possession of it, have enjoyed an uninterrupted 
state of good health. Fevers, which are so common during 
the autumn in other parts of America, are unknown here. 
The winter is so remarkably temperate, that vegetables of all 
kinds are raised during that season without any art. The 
soil on the coast is in general sandy, but productive with 
proper cultivation. The lands are rich and fertile in the in- 
terior parts of the province, and on the sides of the rivers. 



APPENDIX. 187 

which are numerous. Fruits and grain may be raised with 
Kttle labor : the late inhabitants had often two crops of In- 
dian corn in one year, and the breeder here will be under no 
necessity of laying up fodder for the winter, for there is at all 
times sufficient pasture to maintain his cattle. 

The indigo plant remains unhurt for several years, and may 
be cut four times in a season. Wild indigo is found here in 
great abundance, which, with proper cultivation, is esteemed 
in the French islands to be the best. From the great luxu- 
riance of all the West India weeds found in the southern 
parts of this province, it is not to be doubted but tliat all the 
fruits and productions of the West Indies may be raised here. 
Oranges, limes, lemons, and other fruits, grow spontaneously 
over the country. This province abounds with mahogany, 
and all kind of lumber for transportation or ship building, and 
the conveyance of the commodities will be attended with 
little expense, as there is water carriage every where. 



Extract from Governor Tonyn?s Proclamation, Nov. 177^. 

The climate of this country is healthy, as is proved by the 
circumstance, that many of the Spaniards lived here to a 
comfortable old age ; and from the establishment of the civil 
government of the colony under the crown of Great Britain, 
his Majesty's subjects have enjoyed a state of good health, 
which is particularly manifest from the returns of his Majesty's 
troops, in garrison at St. Augustine. 

The climate is sufficiently cold in winter to brace up the 
constitution after it has been relaxed by the summer heats, 
which are greatly mitigated in their effects by a regular sea 
breeze. Several kinds of grain and vegetables may be culti- 
vated here with success in the winter : and Indian corn, rice. 



188 



APPENDIX. 



indigo, cotton and sugar-cane in the summer season. If it be 
thought too expensive, or the seasons should be too preca- 
rious to cultivate the cane in sufficient abundance to produce 
sugar and rum for exportation, the planter may at small ex- 
pense and labour, obtain a supply of these articles for his 
family. The climate and soil are peculiarly favourable to 
the growth of the indigo plant, from which the planters have 
manufactured indigo superior to any made in the British 
colonies of North America. The country contains excellent 
pasture land, suited to cattle of every description, preventing 
by its natural productiveness the necessity of cultivating the 
artificial grasses ; and the mildness of the climate renders the 
laying up of dry fodder unnecessary. 

The whole country is conveniently intersected with navi- 
gable rivers, plentifully stored with fish ; the banks of these 
rivers are covered with large oaks, and various species of 
Avood, fit for the building of ships and houses, and for staves, 
and other articles, suited to the West India market, and an 
easy and rapid conveyance is afforded by the respective 
streams to their different ports. 



The Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship, between His 
Britannic Majesty and the King of Spain, signed at Versailles:, 
the 3d day of September, 1783. 

In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost ! So be it. Be it known to all 
those whom it shall or may in any manner concern. The 
Most Serene and Most Potent Prince, George the Third, by 
the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
Duke of Brunswick and Lunenbourg, Arch-Treasurer and 
Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, &c., and the Most Serene 
and Most Potent Prince, Charles the Third, by the Grace of 



APPENDIX. 18& 

God, King of Spain, and of the Indies, &c. being equally de- 
sirous to put an end to the war, which for several years past 
afflicted their respective dominions, accepted the offer which 
their Majesties the Emperor of the Romans, and the Empress 
of all the Russias, made to them, of their interposition, and of 
their mediation : but their Britannic and Catholic Majesties, 
animated with a mutual desire of accelerating the re-establish- 
ment of Peace, communicated to each other their laudable 
intention ; which Heaven so far blessed, that they proceeded 
to lay the foundations of peace, by signing Preliminary Arti- 
cles at Versailles, the 20th of January, in the present year. 
Their said Majesties, the King of Great Britain, and the Ca- 
tholic King thinking it incumbent upon them to give their Im- 
perial Majesties a signal proof of their gratitude for the gene- 
nerous offer of their mediation, invited them, in concert, to 
concur in the completion of the great and salutary work of 
peace, by taking part, as mediators, in the Definitive Treaty 
to be concluded between their Britannic and Catholic Majes- 
ties. Their said Imperial Majesties having readily accepted 
that invitation, they have named, as their representatives, viz. 
His Majesty, the Emperor of the Romans, the most Illustrious 
and most Excellent Lord Florimond, Count Mercy-Argenteau, 
Viscount of Loo, Baron of Crichegnee, Knight of the Golden 
Fleece, Chamberlain, actual Privy Councillor of State to his 
Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, and his Ambassador to 
his most Christian Majesty ; and her Majesty the Empress of 
all the Russias, the most Illustrious and most Excellent Lord, 
Prince Iwan Bariantinskoy, Lieutenaat-General of the Forces 
of her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, Knight of the Or- 
der of St. Anne and of the Swedish Sword, and Minister Ple- 
nipotentiary to his most Christian Majesty, and the Lord 
Arcadi de MarcofF, Councillor of State to her Imperial Majesty 
of all the Russias, and her Minister Plenipotentiary to his most 
Christain Maiesty. In consequence, their said Majesties, the 



190 APPENDIX. 

King of Great Britain, and the most Christian King have 
named and constituted for their Plenipotentiaries, charged 
with the concluding and signing of the Definitive Treaty of 
Peace, viz. the King of Great Britain, the most Illustrious and 
most Excellent Lord George, Duke and Earl of Manchester, 
Viscount Mandeville, Baron of Kimbolton, Lord Lieutenant 
and Gustos Rotulorum of the county of Huntingdon, actual 
Privy Councillor to his Britannic Majesty, and his Ambassa= 
dor Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to his most Christian 
Majesty ; and the Catholic King, the most Illustrious and most 
Excellent Lord Peter Paul Abarca de BoleaXimenes d'Urrea,^ 
&c. Count of Aranda and Castel Florido, Marquis of Torres, 
of Villanan and Rupit, Viscount of Rueda and Yoch, Baron of 
the Baronies of Gavin, Sietamo, Clamosa, Eripol, Trazmoz, 
La Mata de Castil-Viejo, Antillon, La Almolda, Cortes, Jorva, 
St. Genis, Rabovillet, Arcau and Ste. Colome de Fames, 
Lord of the Tenance and Honour of Alcalaten, the Valley of 
Rodellar, the Castles and Towns of Maella, Mesones, Tiurana, 
and Villa Plana, Taradel and Viladrau, &c, Rico-Hombre in 
Arragon, by descent. Grandee in Spain of the First Class, 
Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and of that of the 
Holy Ghost, Gentleman of the King's Chamber in Employ- 
ment, Captain General of his Forces, and his Ambassador to 
the most Christian King : who, after having exchanged their 
respective full powers, have agreed upon the following 
articles : 

Art. I. There shall be a Christian, universal, and perpe- 
tual peace, as well by sea as by land, and a sincere and con- 
stant friendship shall be re-established, between their Britan- 
nic and Catholic Majesties, and between their heirs and suc- 
cessors, kingdoms, dominions, provinces; countries, subjects, 
and vassals, of what quahty or condition soever they be, with- 
out exception either of places or persons ; so that the high 
contracting parties shall give the greatest attention to the 
maintaining between themselves and their said dominions and 



APPENDIX. 



m 



subjects, this reciprocal friendship and intercourse, without 
permitting hereafter, on either part, any kind of hostihties to 
be committed, either by sea or by land, for any cause or under 
any pretence whatsoever: and they shall carefully avoid, for 
the future, every thing which might prejudice the union hap- 
pily re-estabUshed, endeavouring, on the contrary, to procure 
reciprocally for each other, on every occasion, whatever may 
contribute to their mutual glory, interest, and advantage, 
without giving any assistance or protection, directly or indi- 
rectly, to those who would do any injury to either of the high 
contracting parties. There shall be a general obHvion and 
amnesty of every thing which may have been done or com- 
mitted, before or since the commencement of the war which 
is just ended. 

Art, II. The treaties of Westphalia, of 1648; those of 
Madrid, of 1667, and of 1670 ; those of Peace and of Com- 
merce of Utrecht, of 1713 ; that of Baden, of 1714; of Ma- 
drid, of 1715; of Seville, of 1729; the definitive treaty of 
Aix-la-Chapelle, of 1748 ; the treaty of Madrid, of 1750; and 
the definitive treaty of Paris, of 1763, serve as a basis and 
foundation to the peace, and to the present Treaty ; and for 
this purpose, they are all renewed and confirmed, in the best 
form, as well as all the treaties in general which subsisted 
between the high contracting parties before the war, and par- 
ticularly all those which are specified and renewed in the 
aforesaid definitive treaty of Paris, in the best form, and as if 
they were herein inserted word for word ; so that they are to 
be exactly observed for the future in their full tenoi', and re- 
ligiously executed, by both parties, in all the points which 
shall not be derogated from by the present treaty of peace. 

Art. IIL All the prisoners taken on either side, as well by 
land as by sea, and the hostages carried away or given, during 
the war, and to this day, shall be restored, without ransom, in 
six weeks at latest, to be computed from the day of the ex- 
change of the present treaty ; each Crown respectively dis- 



192 APPENDIX. i 

■i 
charging the advances which shall have been made for the 

subsistence and maintenance of their prisoners, by the Sove- 
reign of the country where they shall have been detained, 
according to the receipts, attested accounts, and other 
authentic vouchers, which shall be furnished on each side : 
and sureties shall be reciprocally given for the payment 
of the debts which the prisoners may have contracted in 
the countries where they may have been detained, until 
their entire release. And all ships, as well men of war as mer- 
chant ships, which may have been taken since the expiration 
of the terms agreed upon for the cessation of hostilities by sea, 
shall likewise be restored bona fide, with all their crews and 
cargoes. And the execution of this article shall be proceeded 
upon immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of 
this treaty. 

Art. IV. The King of Great Britain cedes, in full right, t© 
his Catholic Majesty, the island of Minorca : Provided that the 
same stipulations inserted in the following article shall take 
place in favour of the British subjects, with regard to the 
above-mentioned island. 

Art. V. His Britannic Majesty likewise cedes and guaran- 
ties, in full right to his Cathohc Majesty, East Flori^, as also 
West Florida. His Catholic Majesty agrees that the British 
inhabitants, or others who may have been subjects of the 
King of Great Britain in the said countries, may retire in full 
security and liberty, where they shall think proper, and may 
sell their estates, and remove their effects, as well as their 
persons, without being restrained in their emigration, under 
any pretence whatsoever, except on account of debts, or cri- 
minal prosecutions ; the term limited for this emigration be- 
ing fixed to the space of eighteen months, to be computed 
from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present 
Treaty ; but if, from the value of the possessions of the 
English proprietors, they should not be able to dispose of them 
within the said term, then his Catholic Majesty shall grant 



APPENDIX. 193 

them a prolongation proportioned to that end. It is further 
stipulated, that his Britannic Majesty shall have the power of 
removing from East Florida all the effects which may belong 
to him, whether artillery, or other matters. 

Art. VI. The intention of the two high contracting parties 
being to prevent, as much as possible, all the causes of com- 
plaint and misunderstanding heretofore occasioned by the 
cutting of wood for dying, or logwood ; and several English 
settlements having been formed and extended, under that 
pretence, upon the Spanish continent ; it is expressly agreed, 
that his Britannic Majesty's subjects shall have the right of 
cutting, loading, and carrying away, logwood, in the district 
lying between the rivers Wallis, or Bellize, and Rio Honda, 
taking the course of the said two rivers for unalterable boun- 
daries, so as that the navigation of them be common to both 
nations, to wit, by the river Wallis or Bellize, from the sea, 
ascending as far as opposite to a lake or inlet which runs into 
the land, and forms an isthmus, or neck, with another similar 
inlet,which comes from the side of Rio-Nuevo,orNewRiver,so 
that the line of separation shall pass strait across the said isth- 
mus, and meet another lake formed by the water of Rio-Nuevo, 
or New River, at its current. The said line shall continue with 
the course of Rio-Nuevo, descending as far as opposite to a 
river, the source of which is marked, in the map, between Rio- 
Nuevo and Rio-Hondo, and which empties itself into Rio- 
Hondo ; which river shall also serve as a common boundary 
as far as its junction with Rio-Hondo ; and from thence de- 
scending by Rio-Hondo to the sea, as the whole is marked 
on the map which the Plenipotentiaries of the Two Crowns 
have thought proper to make use of, for ascertaining the 
points agreed upon, to the end that a good correspondence 
may reign between the two nations, and that the English 
workmen, cutters, and labourers, may not trespass from an 
uncertainty of the boundaries. The respective commissaries 
shall fix upon convenient places, in the territory above mark- 

25 



194 APPENDIX, 

ed out, in Order that his Britannic Majesty's subjects, em- 
ployed in the felling of logwood, may, without interruption, 
build therein houses and magazines necessary for themselves, 
their families, and their effects ; and his Catholic Majesty 
assures to them the enjoyment of all that is expressed in the 
present article ; provided that these stipulations shall not be 
considered as derogating in any wise from his rights of sove- 
reignty. Therefore, all the English, who may be dispersed 
in any other parts, whether on the Spanish continent, or in 
any of the islands whatsoever, dependent on the aforesaid 
Spanish continent, and for whatever reason it might be, with- 
out exception, shall retire within the district which has been 
above described, in the space of eighteen months, to be com- 
puted from the exchange of the ratifications ; and for this 
purpose orders shall be issued on the part of his Britannic 
Majesty ; and on that of his Catholic majesty, his governors 
shall be ordered to grant to the Enghsh dispersed every con- 
venience possible for their removing to the settlement agreed 
upon by the present article, or for their retiring wherever 
they shall think proper. It is likewise stipulated, that if any 
Tortifications should actually have been heretofore erected 
within the limits marked out, his Britannic majesty shall 
cause them all to be demolished ; and he Mall order his sub- 
jects not to build any new ones. The English inhabitants, 
who shall settle there for the cutting of logwood, shall be 
permitted to enjoy a free fishery for their subsistence, on the 
coasts of the district above agreed on, or of the islands situ- 
ated opposite thereto, without being in any wise disturbed on 
that account ; provided they do not establish themselves, in 
any manner, on the said islands. 

Art. VII. His Catholic Majesty shall restore to Great 
Britain the islands of Providence, and the Bahamas, without 
exception, in the same condition they were in when they 
were conquered by the arms of the King of Spain. The 
same stipulations inserted in the fifth article of this treaty 



APPENDIX. 195 

shall take place in favour of the Spanish subjects, with re- 
gard to the islands mentioned in the present article. 

Art. VIII. All the countries and territories, which may 
have been, or which may be conquered, in any part of the 
world whatsoever, by the arms of his Britannic Majesty, as 
well as by those of his Catholic Majesty, which are not in- 
cluded in the present Treaty, neither under the head of 
cessions, nor under the head of restitutions, shall be resto- 
red without difficulty, and without requiring any compensa- 
tion. 

Art. IX. Immediately after the exchange of the ratifica- 
tions, the two high contracting parties shall name commis- 
saries to treat concerning new arrangements of commerce 
between the two nations, on the basis of reciprocity and 
mutual convenience ; which arrangements shall be settled 
and concluded within the space of two years, to be computed 
from the first of January, 1784. 

Art. X. As it is necessary to appoint a certain period 
for the restitutions and evacuations to be made by each of 
the High Contracting Parties, it is agreed, that the King of 
Great Britain shall cause East Florida to be evacuated 
three months after the ratification of the present treaty, or 
sooner, if it can be done. The King of Great Britain shall, 
in like manner, enter again into possession of the islands of 
Providence, and the Bahamas, without exception, in the 
space of three months after the ratification of the present 
treaty, or sooner, if it can be done. In consequence whereof, 
the necessary orders shall be sent by each of the High Con- 
tracting Parties, with reciprocal passports for the ships which 
shall carry them, immediately after the ratification of the 
present Treaty. 

Art. XI. Their Britannic and Catholic Majesties promise 
to observe sincerely, and bonafde, all the articles contained 
and established in the present treaty ; and they will not suffer 
the same to be infringed, directly or indirectly, by their re- 



196 APPENDIX. 

spective subjects : and the said High Contracting Parties 
guaranty to each other, generally and reciprocally, all the 
stipulations of the present treaty. 

Art. XII. The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, 
prepared in good and due form, shall be exchanged in this 
city of Versailles, between the High Contracting Parties, in 
the space of one month, or sooner, if possible, to be computed 
from the day of the signature of the present treaty. In wit- 
ness whereof, we, the underwritten Ambassadors Extraordi- 
nary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary, have signed, with our 
hands, in their names, and by virtue of our respective full 
powers, the present Definitive Treaty, and have caused the 
seals of our arms to be affixed thereto. 

Done at Versailles, the third day of September, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-three. 

MANCHESTER. Le Comte d'ARANDA. 

(l. s.) (l. s.) 

SEPARATE ARTICLES. 

Art. T. Some of the titles, made use of by the Contracting 
Parties, whether in the full powers, and other instruments, 
during the course of the negotiation, or in the preamble of 
the present Treaty, not being generally acknowledged, it has 
been agreed, that no prejudice should ever result therefrom 
to either of the said Contracting Parties ; and that the titles 
taken or omitted, on either side, upon occasion of the said 
negotiation, and of the present Treaty, shall not be cited, or 
quoted as a precedent. 

Art. II. It has been agreed and determined, that the French 
language, made use of in all copies of the present Treaty, 
shall not form an example which may be alleged or quoted as 
a precedent, or, in any manner, prejudice either of the Con- 
tracting Powers ; and that they shall conform, for the future, 
to what has been observed, and ought to be observed, with 



APPENDIX. 197 

regard to, and on the part of, powers, who are in the practice 
and possession of giving and receiving copies of like treaties 
in a different language from the French ; the present Treaty 
having, nevertheless, the same force and virtue as if the afore- 
said practice had been therein observed. 

In witness whereof, we, the under-written Ambassadors Ex- 
traordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of their Britannic 
and Catholic Majesties, have signed the present Separate Arti- 
cles, and have caused the seals of our arms to be affixed thereto. 

Done at Versailles, the third day of September, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-three. 

(l. s.) MANCHESTER. 

(l. s.) Le Comte d'ARANDA. 

DECLARATION. 

The new state in which commerce may perhaps be found, 
in all parts of the world, will demand revisions and explana- 
tions of the subsisting treaties ; but an entire abrogation of 
those treaties, in whatever period it might be, would throw 
commerce into such confusion as would be of infinite preju- 
dice to it. 

In some of the treaties of this sort there are not only arti- 
cles which relate merely to commerce, but many others which 
ensure, reciprocally, to the respective subjects, privileges, 
facilities for conducting their affairs, personal protections, 
and other advantages, which are not, and which ought not to 
be, of a changeable nature, such as the regulations relating 
merely to the value of goods and merchandize, variable from 
circumstances of every kind. 

When, therefore, the state of trade between the two nations 
shall be treated upon, it is requisite to be understood, that 
the alterations which may be made in the subsisting treaties 
are to extend only to arrangements merely commercial ; and 
that the privileges and advantages, mutual and particular, be 



198 APPENDIX. 

not only prieserved on each sid6, but even augmented, if it 
can be done. 

In this view, his Majesty has consented to the appointment 
of Commissaries, on each side, who shall treat solely upon 
this object. 

Done at Versailles, the third day of September, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-three. 

(l. s.) MANCHESTER. 

COUNTER-DECLARATION. 

The Catholic King, in proposing new arrangements of com- 
merce, has had no other design than to remedy, by the rules 
of reciprocity and mutual convenience, whatever may be de- 
fective in preceding treaties of commerce. The King of 
Great Britain may judge from thence, that the intention of 
his Catholic Majesty is not in any manner to cancel all the 
stipulations contained in the above-mentioned treaties ; he 
declares, on the contrary, from henceforth, that he is disposed 
to maintain all the privileges, facilities, and advantages, ex- 
pressed in the old treaties, as far as they shall be reciprocal, 
or compensated by equivalent advantages. It is to attain this 
end, desired on each side, that Commissaries are to be named 
to treat upon the state of trade between the two nations, and 
that a considerable space of time is to be allowed for com- 
pleting their work. His Catholic Majesty hopes that this 
object will be pursued with the same good faith, and with the 
same spirit of conciliation, which have presided over the dis- 
cussion of all the other points included in the Definitive 
Treaty ; and his said Majesty is equally confident, that the 
respective Commissaries will employ the utmost diligence for 
the completion of this important work. 

Done at Versailles, the third day of September, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eighty-three. 

(l. s.) Le Comte d'ARANDA. 



APPENDIX. 199 

Extract from the Proclamation of Don Enriqui White, Colonel 
and Governor of East Florida, dated St. Augustine, October 
12th, 1803. 

" Forasmuch as it is proper partly to modify the rules and 
conditions which the government had estabhshed for conces- 
sions and divisions of lands to the new settlers in this pro- 
vince, and as many abuses, on the part of these new settlers, 
have arisen under the system which government had esta- 
blished, tending to the prejudice and hindrance of the ad- 
vancement of the province, for which reason, and to remedy 
these evils, I recommend and order, that for the future the 
following regulations be observed, viz. : 

1st. (Prescribes the oath required to be taken by new set- 
tlers.) 

2d. (Specifies the number of acres granted to each family.) 

3d. Those to whom land is granted shall begin to cultivate 
it within a month from the time of the grant ; in failure of 
which, the grant shall be annulled. 

4th. All concessions of lands, in which no time is specified, 
shall expire and be annulled, if the person to whom they are 
made shall not appear to cultivate and take possession of them 
within the space of six months. 

5th. None of those who cede or convey their lands to others, 
under the pretence of selling their improvements, shall be 
granted any lands in future, nor shall these cessions or con- 
veyances be admitted, if done without the consent of govern- 
ment. 

6th. Notwithstanding what is said in the foregoing article, 
if it should suit any settler to change his situation, it will be 
permitted, if he desires, by granting him lands where he may 
wish ; but on condition of giving up the improvements on the 
lands he left, for the royal revenue, on purpose to hinder the 
abuse of transfers or sales, which are prohibited, under that 



200 APPENDIX. 

pretext, until the right time prefixed in the former rules or 
place. 

7th. (Relates to cutting wood for government.) 

8th. (Relates to fixing the spot desired.) 

9th. Every person who shall have abandoned or disconti- 
Bued cultivating, or does not actually cultivate the lands which 
at any period shall have been measured to him by the Sur- 
vej'or-General, even after he has obtained the corresponding 
title of proprietorship from the office, shall lose his right to 
them, and they shall be given to any one, not having land al- 
ready, by proving summarily that they have laid uncultivated 
for at least two years." 



Colonel Clinches Official Letter respecting the Expedition against 
the Megro Fort, on the Apalachicola. 

Camp Crawford, August 2, 1816. 

Sir : — I have the honor to inform you that I received a let- 
ter from Major General Gaines, dated , advising me that 

he had ordered a supply of provisions, two eighteen pounders, 
one five and a half inch howitzer, and a quantity of ordnance 
stores, to ascend the Apalachicola river to this post. I was 
also instructed, in case opposition should be made by the fort, 
occupied by Negroes and Choctaw Indians, to the passage of 
the convoy, to take measures for its reduction. 

A confidential chief, called Lafarka, was immediately de- 
spatched with a letter for the officer commanding the convoy, 
with instructions to remain near the Bay until the arrival of 
the vessels. On the 15th ultimo, the chief returned, with a 
letter from Sailing Master Loomis, informing me of his arrival 
in the bay with two gun vessels, convoying two transports laden 
with provisions, ordnance, ordnance stores, (Src. On the 17th 
J left this place with one hundred and sixteen chosen men, in 



APPENDIX. 201 

l)oats, and commenced descending the river. The detach- 
ment was divided into two companies, commanded by Brevet 
Major Muhlenberg and Captain Taylor. On the same even- 
ing, I was joined by Major M'Intosh, with one hundred and 
fifty Indians, and on the 1 8th, by an old chief, called Captain 
Isaacs, and the celebrated chief Koteha-haigo, (or mad tiger,) 
at the head of a large body of Indians, many of whom were 
without arms. 

My junction with these chiefs was accidental ; their expe- 
dition having been long since projected. Their object was to 
capture the negroes within the fort, and restore them to their 
proper owners. We held a council, and an agreement was 
entered into. I ordered the chiefs to keep parties in ad- 
vance, and to secure every negro they fell in with, and to join 
me near the fort. On the 19th they brought in a prisoner, 
taken the evening before, with a scalp, which he said he was 
carrying to the Seminoles. He further stated that the black 
commandant, and the Choctaw chief, had returned to the fort, 
from the Bay, the day before, with a party of men, with infor- 
mation that they had killed several Americans, and taken a 
boat from them. I was met the same day by Lafarka, who 
informed me that he had not been able to deliver my second 
letter to the officer commanding the gun vessels. 

At two o'clock on the morning of the 20th we landed 
within cannon shot of the fort, but protected by a skirt of 
wood. I again sent Lafarka with a letter, notifying the offi- 
cer commanding the convoy of my arrival. My plan of attack 
was communicated to the chiefs; and a party of Indians, under 
Major Mcintosh, were directed to surround the fort. Finding 
it impossible to carry my plans into execution without the 
assistance of artillery, I ordered Major Mcintosh to keep one 
third of his men constantly hovering around the fort, and to 
keep up an irregular fire. 

This had the desired effect, as it induced the enemy to 
amuse us with an incessant roar of artillery, without any 

26 



202 APPENDIX. ] 

other effect than that of striking terror into the souls of most 
of our red friends. 

On the 23d I received an answer from saihng-master 
Loomis, in which he informed me that on the 16th he sent 
midshipman Luffborough, (a young gentleman of fair pro- 
mise,) and four seamen, into the river, for fresh water : that 
they were fired upon by a party of negroes and Choctaws ; 
that the midshipman and two seamen were killed ; that the 
third was taken prisoner ; that the fourth made his escape by 
swimming : and requested me to send down a party of men, 
to assist in getting up the vessels. In the evening a deputa- 
tion of chiefs went into the fort, and demanded its surrender ; 
but they were abused, and treated with the utmost contempt. 
The black chief heaped much abuse on the Americans, and 
said he had been left in command of the fort by the British 
government, and that he would sink any American vessels 
that sbouid attempt to pass it ; and would blow up the fort 
if he could not defend it. The chiefs also informed me that 
the negroes had hoisted a red flag, and that the English jack 
was flying over it. 

On the 24th I ordered Lieutenant Wilson to descend the 
river, with a small party, to assist in getting up the vessels, 
and to inform the commanding ofScer that the fort was com- 
pletely surrounded, and that he might ascend the river in 
safety. On the 26th I went on board gun vessel 149, about 
four miles below the fort. I had previously determined on a 
position in the rear of the fort, for erecting a battery ; but, 
on examining the two eighteen pounders, I found them 
mounted on heavy garrison carriages, which rendered it al- 
most impossible to get them to the spot selected, as thej 
mu^l have been taken through a cypress swamp. 

After reconnoitring the river below the fort, in company 
with the commandant of the gun vessels,! determined to erect 
a battery on the west side, and ordered brevet major Muhlen- 
berg and captain Taylor to cross, with their companies, leav- 



APPENDIX. 203 

ing lieutenant McGavick and a party of men with the main 
body of the Indians, to secure the rear. 

I immediately commenced the battery, and ordered the 
gun vessels to move up, and take a secure position, and di- 
rected the transport Similante to be in readiness to land the 
artillery, under cover of the night. 

In the course of the evening, after consulting with the 
commanding oifficer of the convoy, I directed him to move 
up the two gun vessels at daylight the next morning. About 
six in the morning they came up in handsome style, and made 
fast along side of the intended battery. 

In a few minutes we received a shot from a 32 pounder, 
which was returned in a gallant manner. The contest was 
momentary. The fifth discharge (a hot shot) from gun vessel 
No. 154, commanded by sailing master Basset, entered the 
magazine, and blew up the fort. The explosion was awful, 
and the scene horrible beyond description. Our first care, 
on arriving at the scene of destruction, was to rescue and re- 
lieve the unfortunate beings that survived the explosion.' 

The war yells of the Indians, the cries and lamentations 
of the wounded, compelled the soldier to pause in the midst 
of victory, to drop a tear for the sufferings of his fellow be- 
ings, and to acknowledge that the great Ruler of the Universe 
must have used us as his instruments in chastising the blood- 
thirsty and murderous wretches that defended the fort. The 
fort contained about one hundred effective men, (including 
twenty-five Choctaws,) and about two hundred women and 
children, not more than one-sixth part of which number were 
saved. It stood on the east side of the river about twenty- 
five miles from the bay, and one hundred and twenty, by 
water, from this post. The parapet was about fifteen feet 
high and eighteen thick, and defended by one thirty-two, 
three twenty-fours, two nines, two sixes, and an elegant five 
and an half inch howitzer. 

It was situated on a beautiful and commanding bluflf, with 



204 APPENDIX. 

the river in front, a large creek just below, a swamp in tlie 
rear, and a small creek just above, which rendered it difficult 
to be approached by artillery. But, under all these disad- 
vantages, it was taken without the loss of a single man on 
our part. 

The property taken and destroyed could not have amount- 
ed to less than two hundred thousand dollars. From the 
best information 1 could obtain, there was in the fort about 
three thousand stand of arms, from five to six hundred barrels 
of powder, and a great quantity of fixed ammunition, shot, 
shells, &LC. One magazine, containing one hundred and sixty- 
three barrels of powder, was saved, which was a valuable prize 
to the Indians. The greater part of the negroes belonged to 
the Spaniards and Indians. The American negroes had prin- 
cipally settled on the river, and a number of them had left 
their fields and gone over to the Seminoles, on hearing of our 
approach. Their corn fields extended nearly fifty miles up 
the river, and their numbers were daily increasing. The 
chiefs passed sentence of death on the outlawed Choctaw 
chief and the black commandant, (Garson,) for the murder of 
the four Americans, and the sentence was immediately carried 
into execution. The Spanish negroes were delivered to Mr. 
Hambly, agent for the house of Messrs. Forbes & Co. and 
the American negroes are confined at this post. 

On the 30th inst. the transports were unloaded, as I found 
it impossible for them to ascend the river, and the provisions, 
ordnance, and ordnance stores, put on board small boats, and 
ordered to this post. 

On the evening of the 1st inst. I received information that 
a large body of Seminole Indians was within a day's march of 
us ; and in a few hours the report was confirmed by a letter 
from Major Cutler, left in command at Camp Crawford, in- 
forming me that a large body of Seminoles were descending 
the Apalachicola. I immediately ordered Major Muhlenberg 
to keep the boats together, and to be in readiness to receive 



APPENDIX. 205 

them, and directed one hundred Indians to keep with the 
boats, and to act in concert, if necessary. 

I advanced with two hundred Cowetas, under the gallant 
Major Mcintosh, to meet them ; but the cowardly wretches 
dispersed, without our being able to get a view of them. 

I should do injustice to my own feelings, and to the offi- 
cers and men that were with me on this expedition, were I 
to close this report without tendering to them my warmest 
acknowledgments for their cool and intrepid conduct, and for 
their patience and perseverance imder the most trying cir- 
cumstances. To the distinguished Lieut. Randolph, and to 
Dr. Buck, (who composed my staff,) I am under many obli- 
gations. Doctor Buck's coolness and intrepidity were only 
equalled by his superior skill, and humane and generous 
attention to the wounded. 

I must beg leave to recommend to my government the 
gallant Major Mcintosh, Captains Noble, Kanard, George 
Lovett, Blue, and Lieut. Billy Miller, (all from Coweta,) 
for their distinguished conduct during the whole expedition. 

With considerations of the highest respect, I am, sir, 
your most obedient servant, 

D. L. Clinch, 
Lt. Col. 4th Inf. Commd'g. &t. 

Col. R. BuTtEK, 

Adjutant General, Division of the South. 



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas a Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits, be- 
tween the United States of America and his Catholic Majesty 
was concluded and signed between their Plenipotentiaries, in 
this City, on the twenty-second day of February, in the year 



206 



APPENDIX. 



of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, which 
treaty, word for word, is as follows : 



[original.] 

Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and 
Limits, between the United 
States of America and His 
Catholic Majesty. 

The United States of Ameri- 
ca and his Cathohc Majesty, de- 
siring to consolidate, on a per- 
manent basis, the friendship and 
good correspondence which hap- 
pily prevails between the two 
parties, have determined to set- 
tle and terminate all their differ- 
ences and pretensions, by a 
Treaty, which shall designate, 
with precision, the limits of their 
respective bordering territories 
in North America. 

With this intention, the Pre- 
sident of the United States has 
furnished with their full powers 
John Q,uincy Adams, Secretary 
of State of the United States ; 
and his Catholic Majesty has ap- 
pointed the most excellent Lord 
Don Luis de Onis, Gonzales, 
Lopez y Vara, Lord of the town 
of Rayaces, perpetual Regidor of 
the Corporation of the City of 
Salamanca, Knight Grand-Cross 
of the Royal American Order of 
Isabella the Catholic, decorated 
with the Lys of La Vendee, 
Knight Pensioner of the Royal 



[original.] 
Tratado de Amistad, arreglo de 

diferencias y Limites, entre S. 

M. Ca.y los Estados Unidos de 

America. 

Deseando S. M, Catohca y los 
Estados Unidos de America con- 
solidar de un modo permanente 
la buenacorrespondencia y ami- 
stad que felizmente reyna entre 
ambas partes, han resuelto tran- 
sigir y terminar todas sus dife- 
rencias y pretensiones por medio 
de un Tratado, que fixe con pre- 
cision, los limites de sus respec- 
tivos y confinantes territories en 
la America septentrional. 

Con esta mira han nombrado, 
Sa. M. Ca. al Exmo. Sor. Dn. 
Luis De Onis, Gonsalez, Lopez 
y Vara, Senor de la Villa de 
Rayaces, Regidor perpetuo del 
ayuntamiento de la Ciudad de 
Salamanca, Caballero Gran Cruz 
de la Real orden ; Americana de 
Isabel la Cat6lica, y de la deco- 
racion del Lis de la Vendda, Ca- 
ballero Pensionista de la Real y 
destinguida orden Espailola de 
Carlos III, Ministro Vocal de la 
Suprema Asamblea de dicha Rl. 
orden, de su consejo, su Secre- 
tario con exercicio de Decretos 



APPENDIX. 



207 



and distinguished Spanish Order 
of Charles the Third, Member 
of the Supreme Assembly of the 
said Royal Order, of the Coun- 
cil of his Catholic Majesty — his 
Secretary, with Exercise of De- 
crees, and his Envoy Extraordi- 
nary and Minister Plenipotentia- 
ry near the United States of 
America. 

And the said Plenipotentiaries, 
after having exchanged their 
powers, have agreed upon and 
concluded the following articles: 

Article I. There shall be a 
firm and inviolable peace and 
sincere friendship between the 
United Stales and their citizens, 
and his Catholic Majesty, his 
successors and subjects, without 
exception of persons or places. 

Art. II. His Catholic Majesty 
cedes to the United States, in 
full property and sovereignty, 
all the territories which belong 
to him situated to the eastward 
of the Mississippi, known by 
the name of East and West Flo- 
rida. The adjacent islands de- 
pendent on said provinces, all 
public lots and squares, vacant 
lands, public edifices, fortifica- 
tions, barracks, and other build- 
ings, which are not private pro- 
perty, archives and documents, 
which relate directly to the pro- 



y su Enviado Extraordinario y 
Ministro Plenipotenciario cerca 
de los Estados Unidos de Ame- 
rica : Y el Presidente de los 
Estados Unidos, a Don Juan 
Q,uiNCY Adams, Secretario de 
Estado de los mismos Estados 
Unidos. 



Y ambos Plenipotenciarios, 
despues de haver cangeado sus 
Poderes, han ajustado y firmado 
los Articulos siguientes : 

Articulo I. HabrS. una paz so- 
lida e inviolable, y una amistad 
sincera entre S. M. Ca. sus su- 
cesores y subditos y los Estados 
Unidos y sus ciudadanos sin ex- 
ception de personas ni lugares. 

Art. II. S. M. Ca. cede a los 
Estados Unidos, en toda propie- 
dad y soberania, todos los terri- 
tories que le pertenecen, situa- 
dos al Este del Misisipi, conoci- 
dos bajo el nombre de Florida 
Occidental y Florida Oriental. — 
Son comprehendidos en este ar- 
ticulo las yslas adyacentes de- 
pendientes de dichas dos pro- 
vincias, los sitios, plazas publi- 
cas, terrenos valdios, edificios 
publicos,fortificaciones,casernas 
y otros edificios que no sean prq- 
piedad de algun individuo parti- 



208 



APPENDIX. 



perty and sovereignty of said 
provinces, are included in this 
article. The said archives and 
documents shall be left in pos- 
session of the commissaries or 
officers of the United States, 
duly authorized to receive them. 



Art. III. The boundary line 
between the two countries, west 
of the Mississippi, shall begin on 
the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth 
of the river Sabine, in the sea, 
continuing north, along the west- 
ern bank of that river, to the 
32d degree of latitude ; thence, 
by a line due north, to the de- 
gree of latitude where it strikes 
the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, 
or Red River ; then, following 
the course of the Rio Roxo west- 
ward, to the degree of longitude 
100 west from London, and 23 
from Washington ; then crossing 
the said Red river, and running 
thence, by a line due north, to 
the river Arkansas ; thence, fol- 
lowing the course of the south- 
ern bank of the Arkansas, to its 
source, in latitude 42 north ; and 
thence, by that parallel of lati- 
tude, to the South Sea. The 
'whole being as laid down in 
Melish's map of the United 
States, publishedat Philadelphia, 
improved to the 1st of January, 



cular, los archivos y dqcumentos 
directamente relativos a la pro- 
piedad y soberania de las mis- 
mas dos provincias. Dichos ar- 
chivos y documentos se entre- 
garan a los comisarios u oficiales 
de los Estados Unidos debida- 
mente autorizados para recibir- 
los. 

Art. III. La Linea divisoria 
entre los dos paises al Occidente 
del Misisipi arrancara del Seno 
Mexicano en la embocadura del 
Rio Sabina en el Mar, seguira al 
Norte por la Orilla Occidental 
de este Rio hasta el grado 32 de 
latitud ; desde alii por una linea 
recta al Norte hasta el grado de 
latitud en que entra en el Rio 
Roxo de Natchitochez, (Red Ri- 
ver,) y continuara por el curso 
del Rio Roxo al Oeste hasta el 
grado 100 de longitud Occiden- 
tal de Londres y 23 de Wash- 
ington, en que cortara este Rio, 
y Seguira por una linea recta a! 
Norte por el mismo grado hasta 
el Rio Arkansas, cuya Orilla Me- 
ridional seguira hasta su nacimi- 
ento en el grado 42 de latitud 
Septentrional ; y desde dicho 
punto se terara una linea recta 
por el mismo paralelo de latitud 
hasta el Mar del Sur. Todo se- 
gun el Mapa de los Estados Uni- 
dos de Melisb, publicado en Phi- 
ladelphia y perfecionado en 



APPENDIX. 



209 



1818. But, if the source of the 
Arkansas river shall be found to 
fall north or south of latitude 42, 
then the line shall run from the 
said source due south or north, 
as the case may be, till it meets 
the said parallel of latitude 42, 
and thence, along the said pa- 
rallel, to the South Sea ; All the 
islands in the Sabine, and the 
said Red and Arkansas rivers, 
throughout the course thus de- 
scribed, to belong to the United 
States ; but the use of the wa- 
ters and the navigation of the 
Sabine to the sea, and of the said 
rivers Roxo and Arkansas, 
throughout the extent of the said 
boundary, on their respective 
banks, shall be common to the 
respective inhabitants of both 
nations. 

The two high contracting par- 
ties agree to cede and renounce 
all their rights, claims, and pre- 
tensions, to the territories de- 
scribed by the said line ; that is 
to say : " the United States 
hereby cede to his Galholic Ma- 
jesty, and renounce for ever, all 
their rights, claims, and preten- 
sions, to the territories lying 
west and south of the above de- 
scribed line ; and, in like man- 
ner, his Catholic Majesty cedes 
to the said United States all his 
rights, claims, and pretensions, 

27 



1818. Pero si elnacimiento del 
Rio Arkansas se hallase al Norte 
6 Sur de dicho grado 42 de la- 
titud, seguira la linea desde el 
origen de dicho Rio recta al Sur 
6 Norte, segun fuese necesario 
hasta que encuentre el expresa- 
do grado 42 de latitud, y desde 
alii por el mismo paralelo hasta 
el Mar del Sur. Perteneceran 
a los Estados Unidos todas las 
Yslas de los Rios Sabina, Roxo 
de Natchitochez, y Arkansas, en 
la extension de todo el curso 
descrito ; pero el uso de las 
aguas y la navegacion del Sabina 
hasta el Mar y de los expresa- 
dos Rios Roxo y Arkansas en 
toda la extension de sus men- 
cionados limites en sus respecti" 
vas Orillas, sera comun a los ha- 
bitantes de las dos Naciones. 

Las dos altas partes contra- 
tantes convienen en ceder y re- 
nunciar todos sus derechos, re- 
clamaciones, y pretensiones so- 
bre los territories que se de- 
scriben en esta linea ; a saber, 
S. M. Ca. renuncia y cede para 
siempre por si, y a nombre de 
sus herederos y sucesores todos 
los derechos que tiene sobre los 
territories al Este y al Norte de 
dicha linea : y los Estados Uni ; 
dos en egual forma ceden a S. 
M. Ca. y renuncian para siem- 
pre todos sus derechos, recla- 



210 



APPENDIX. 



to any territories east and north 
of the said line, and for himself, 
his heirs, and successors, re- 
nounces all claim to the said ter- 
ritories forever. 

Art. IV. To fix this line with 
more precision, and to place the 
land-marks which shall designate 
exactly the limits of both nations, 
each of the contracting parties 
shall appoint a commissioner and 
a surveyor, who shall meet be- 
fore the termination of one year 
from the date of the ratification 
of this treaty, at Natchitoches, 
on the Red river, and proceed 
to run and mark the said line, 
from the mouth of the Sabine to 
the Red river, and from the Red 
river to the river Arkansas, and 
to ascertain the latitude of the 
source of the said river Arkan- 
sas, in conformity to what is 
above agreed upon and stipu- 
lated, and the line of latitude 42 
deg. to the South Sea ; they shall 
make out plans, and keep jour- 
nals of their proceedings, and 
the result agreed upon by them 
shall be considered as part of 
this treaty, and shall have the 
same force as if it were insert- 
ed therein. The two govern- 
ments will amicably agree re- 
specting the necessary articles 
to be furnished to those persons, 



maciones, y pretensiones d qua- 
lesquiera territorios situados al 
Oeste y al Sur de la misma linea 
arriba descrita. 

Art. IV. Para fixar esta linea 
con mas precision y establecer 
los Mojones que senalen con ex- 
actitud los limites de ambas na- 
ciones, nombrara cada una de 
ellas un comisario y un geome- 
tra que se junteran antes del ter- 
mino de un aiiio, contado desde 
la fecha de la ratificacion de este 
tratado, en Natchitochez, en las 
Orillas del Rio Roxo, y proce- 
daran a senalar y demarcar dicha 
linea, desde la embocadura del 
Sabina hasta el Rio Roxo, y de 
este hasta el Rio Arkansas, y a 
averiguar con certidumbre, el 
origen del expresado Rio Arkan- 
sas, y fixar segun queda estipu- 
lado y convenido en este tratado, 
la linea que debe seguir, desde 
el grado 42 de latitud hasta el 
MarPacifico. Llevaran diarios y 
levantaran pianos de sus opera- 
ciones, y el resultado convenido 
por ellos se tendra per parte de 
este tratado, y tendra la misma- 
fuerza que si estuviese inserto 
en el ; deviendo convenir amis- 
tosamente los dos Gobiernos ea 
el arreglo de quanto necesiten 
estos individuos, y en la escolta 



APPENDIX. 



211 



and also as to their respective es- 
corts, should such be deemed 
necessary. 

Art. V. The inhabitants of the 
ceded territories shall be se- 
cured in the free exercise of 
their religion without any re- 
striction, and all those who may 
desire to remove to the Spanish 
dominions shall be permitted to 
sell or export their effects at 
any time whatever, without be- 
ing subject, in either case, to 
duties. 

Art. VI. The inhabitants of 
the territories which his Catho- 
lic Majesty cedes to the United 
States, by this treaty, shall be 
incorporated in the Union of the 
United Stales, as soon as may be 
consistent with the principles of 
the federal constitution, and ad- 
mitted to the enjoyment of all 
the privileges, rights, and immu- 
nities, of the citizens of the 
United States. 

Art. VII. The officers and 
troops of his Catholic Majesty, 
in the territories hereby ceded 
by him to the United States, 
shall be withdrawn, and pos- 
session of the places occupied 
by them shall be given within 
six months after the exchange 
of the ratifications of this treaty, 
or sooner, if possible, by the 



respectiva que deban llevar, si- 
empre que se crea necessario. 

Art. V. A los habitantes de 
todos los territories cedidos se 
les conservara el exercicio libre 
de su religion, sin restriccion 
alguna ; y a todos los que qui- 
sieren trasladarse a los dominios 
Espaiioles se les permitira la 
venta 6 extraccion de sus efectos 
en qualquiera tiempo, sin que 
pueda exigirseles en uno ni otro 
casa derecho alguno. 

Art. VI. Los habitantes de lbs 
territories que S. M. Ca. cede 
por este tratado a los Estados 
Unidos seran incorporados en 
la Union de los mismos Estados, 
lo mas presto posible, segun los 
principios de la constitucion fe- 
deral, y admitidos al goce de to- 
dos los privilegios, derechos <t 
inmunidades de que disfrutan los 
ciudadanos de los demas Estados. 

Art. VII. Los oficiales y tro- 
pas de S. M. Ca. evacuaran los 
territories cedidos a los Estados 
Unidos seis meses despues del 
cange de la ratificacion de este 
tratado, 6 antes si fuese posible, 
y daran posesion de elles a los 
oficiales, 6 comisarios de los Es- 
tados Unidos debidamente auto- 
rizados para recibirlos : Y los 



212 



APPENDIX. 



officers of his Catholic Majesty, 
to the commissioners or officers 
of the United States, duly ap- 
pointed to receive them ; and 
the United States shall furnish 
the transports and escort neces- 
sary to convey the Spanish offi- 
cers and troops, and their bag- 
gage, to the Havana. 

Art. VIII. All the grants of 
land made before the 24th of 
January, 1818, by his Catholic 
Majesty, or by his lawful autho- 
rities in the said territories, 
ceded by his Majesty to the 
United States, shall be ratified 
and confirmed to the persons in 
possession of the lands, to the 
same extent that the same grants 
would be valid, if the territories 
had remained under the domi- 
nion of his Catholic Majesty. — 
But the owners in possession of 
such lands who, by reason of 
the recent circumstances of the 
Spanish nation, and the revolu- 
tions in Europe, have been pre- 
vented from fulfilling all the con- 
ditions of their grants, shall com- 
plete them within the terms li- 
mited in the same, respectiveljs 
from the date of this treaty ; in 
default of which, the said grants 
shall be null and void. All 
grants made since the said 24th 
of January, 1818, when the first 



Estados Unidos proveeran los 
transportes y escolta necesarios 
parr llevar a la Habana los ofi- 
ciales y tropas Espanolas y sus 
equipages. 



Art. VIII. Todas las concesi- 
ones de terrenos hechas por S. 
M. Ca. 6 por sus legitimas auto- 
ridades antes del 24 de Enero, 
de 1818, en los expresados ter- 
ritorios que S, M. cede a los 
Estados Unidos, quedaran ratifi- 
cadas y reconocidas a las per- 
sonas que esten en posesion de 
ellas, del mismo modo que lo se- 
rian si S. M. hubiese continuado 
en el dominio de estos territo- 
rios ; pero los propietarios que 
por un efecto de las circunstan- 
cias en que se ha hallado la Na- 
cion Espanola y por las revolu- 
ciones de Europa, no hubiesen 
podido llenar todas las obliga- 
ciones de las concesiones, seran 
obligados a cumplirlas segun las 
condiciones de sus respectivas 
concesiones desde la fecha de 
este tratado, en defecto de lo 
qual seran nulas y de ningun 
valor. Todas las concesiones 
posteriores al 24 de Enero de 
1318, en que fueron hechas las 



APPENDIX. 



213 



proposal, on the part of his Ca- 
tholic Majesty, for the cession of 
the Floridas was made, are here- 
by declared, and agreed to be, 
null and void. 

Art. IX. The two high con- 
traciing parties, animated with 
the most earnest desire of con- 
ciliation, and with the object of 
putting an end to all the differ- 
ences which have existed be- 
tween them, and of confirming 
the good understanding which 
they wish to be forever main- 
tained between them, recipro- 
cally renounce all claims for da- 
mages or injuries which they 
themselves, as well as their re- 
spective citizens and subjects, 
may have suffered until the time 
of signing this treaty. 

The renunciation of the Uni- 
ted States will extend to all the 
injuries mentioned in the con- 
vention of the 11th of August, 
1802. 

2. To all claims on account 
of prizes made by French pri- 
vateers, and contiemned by 
French consuls, within the ter- 
ritory and jurisdiction of Spain. 

3. To all claims of indemni- 
ties on account of the suspension 
of the right of deposit at New 
Orleans in 1802. 

4. To all claims of citizens 



primeras proposiciones de parte 
de S. M. Ca. para la cesion de 
las dos Floridas, convienen y 
declaren las dos altes partes con- 
tratrantes que quedan anuladas 
y de ningun valor. 

Art. IX. Las dos altas partes 
contratantes animadas de los mas 
vivos deseos de conciliacion y 
con el objeto de cortor de raiz 
todas las discusiones que ban 
existido entre ellas y afianzar la 
buena armonia que desean man- 
tener perpetuamente, renuncian 
una y otre reciprocamente a to- 
das las reclamaciones de daiios y 
perjuicios que asi ellas como sus 
respectivos subditos y ciudada- 
nos hayan experimentado hasta 
el dia en que se firme este tra- 
tado. 

La renuncia de los Estados 
Unidos se extiende a todos los 
perjuicios mencionados en el 
Convenio, de 1 1 de Agosto de 
1802. 

2. A todas las reclamaciones 
de presas hechas por los Cor- 
sarios Franceses, y condenadas 
por los Consules Franceses den- 
tro del territorio y jurisdiccion 
de Espaiia. 

3. A todas las reclamaciones 
de indemnizaciones por la sus- 
pension del derecho de Deposi- 
to enNueva Orleans en 1802. 

4. A todas las reclamaciones 



•214 



APPENDIX, 



of the United States upon the 
government of Spain, arising 
from the unlawful seizures at 
sea, and in the ports and territo- 
ries of Spain, or the Spanish 
colonies. 

5. To all claims of citizens of 
the United States upon the Spa- 
nish government, statements of 
which, soliciting the interposi- 
tion of the government of the 
United States, have been pre- 
sented to the Department of 
State, or to the Minister of the 
United States in Spain, since the 
date of the convention of 1802, 
and until the signature of this 
treaty. 

The renunciation of his Ca- 
tholic Majesty extends : 

1 . To all the injuries mention- 
ed in the convention of the 1 1th 
of August, 1802. 

2. To the sums which his 
Catholic Majesty advanced for 
the return of Captain Pike from 
the Provincias Internas. 

3. To all injuries caused by 
the expedition of Miranda, that 
was fitted out and equipped at 
New-York. 

4. To all claims of Spanish 
subjects upon the government 
of the United States, arising 
from unlawful seizures at sea, or 
within the ports and territorial 
jurisdiction of the United States. 



de los ciudadanos de los Estados 
Unidos contra el Gobierno Es- 
panol precedents de presas con- 
fiscaciones injustas asi en la Mar 
como en los puertos y territories 
de S. M. en Espana y sus Co- 
lonias, 

5. A todas las reclamaciones 
de los ciudadanos de los Estados 
Unidos contra el Gobierno de 
Espana, en que se haya recla- 
mado la interposicion del Gobi- 
erno de los Estados Unidos antes 
de la fecha de este tratado, y 
desde la fecha del convenio de 
1802, 6 presentadas al Departa- 
mento de Estado de esta Repub- 
lica, 6 Ministro de los Estados 
Unidos en Espana. 

La renuncia de S. M. Ca. se 
extiende : 

1. A todoslos perjuicios men- 
cionados en el convenio de 1 1 
de Agosto, 1802. 

2. A las cantidates que suplio, 
para la vuelta del Capitan Pike, 
de las provincias internas. 

3. A los perjuicios causados 
por la expedicion de Miranda, 
armada y equipada en Nueva 
York. 

4. A todas las reclamaciones 
de los subditos de S. M. Ca. 
contra el Gobierno de los Es- 
tados Unidos procedentes de 
presas y confiscaciones injustas 
asi en la mar como en los puertos 
y territories de los Estados Uni- 
dos. 



APPENDIX. 



215 



Finally, to all the claims of 
subjects of his Catholic Majesty 
upon the government of the 
United States, in which the in- 
terposition of his Catholic Ma- 
jesty's government has been so- 
licited before the date of this 
treaty, and since the date of the 
convention of 1802, or which 
may have been made to the De- 
partment of Foreign Affairs of 
his Majesty, or to his Minister 
in the United States. 

And the high contracting par- 
ties, respectively, renounce all 



5. A todas las reclamaciones 
de los subditos de S. M. Ca. 
contra el Gobierno de los Esta- 
dos Unidos, en que se haya re- 
clamado la interposicion del Go> 
bierno de Espana antes de la 
fecha de este tratado, y desde la 
fecha del convenio de 1802, 6 
que hayan sido presentadas al 
Departmento de Estado de S. 
M. 6 a su Ministro en los Esta- 
dos Unidos. 

Las altas, partes contratantes 
renuncian reciprocamente todos 
sus derechos a. indemnizaciones 



claim to indemnities for any of por qualquiera de los ultimos ; 



the recent events or transactions 
of their respective commanders 
and oflScers in the Floridas. 

The United States will cause 
satisfaction to be made for the 
injuries, if any, which, by pro- 
cess of law, shall be established 
to have been suffered by the 
Spanish officers, and individual 
Spanish inhabitants, by the late 
operations of the American army 
in Florida. 

Art. X. The convention 
entered into between the two 
governments, on the 11th of Au- 
gust, 1802, the ratifications of 
which were exchanged the 21st 
December, 1818, is annulled. 

Art. XL The United States, 
exonerating Spain from all de- 



a contecimientos y transacciones 
de sus respectivos comandantes 
y oficiales en las Floridas. 

Y los Estados Unidos satisfa- 
ran los perjuicios, si los hubise 
habido, que los habitantes y ofi- 
ciales Espanoles justifiquen le- 
galmente haber sufrido por las 
operaciones de Exercito Ameri- 
cano en ellas. 



Art. X. Queda anulado el 
convenio hecho entre los dos 
Gobiernos en 11 de Agosto, de 
180?, cuyas ratificaciones fueron 
cangeadas en 21 de Diciembre 
de 1818. 

Art. XL Los Estados Unidos 
descargando a la Espana para lo 



Hjands in future, on account of sucesivo de todas las reclama- 



216 



APPENDIX. 



the claims of their citizens to 
which the renunciations herein 
contained extend, and consider- 
ing them entirely cancelled, un- 
dertake to make satisfaction for 
the same, to an amount not ex- 
ceeding five millions of dollars. 
To ascertain the full amount 
and validity of those claims, a 
Commission, to consist of three 
Commissioners, Citizens of the 
United States, shall be appoint- 
ed by the President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the 
Senate, which commission shall 
meet at the city of Washington, 
and, within the space of three 
years from the time of their 
first meeting, shall receive, ex- 
amine, and decide upon the 
amount and validity of all the 
claims included within the de- 
scriptions above mentioned. The 
said Commissioners shall take 
an oath or affirmation, to be en- 
tered on the record of their 
proceedings, for the faithful and 
diligent discharge of their du- 
ties ; and, in case of the death, 
sickness, or necessary absence 
of any such Commissioner, his 
place may be supplied by the 
appointment as aforesaid, or by 
the President of the United 
States, during the recess of the 
Senate, of another Commissioner 
in his stead. The said Commis- 



ciones de sus ciudadanos fi, que 
se extienden las renuncias he- 
chas en este tratado, y dandolas 
por enteramente canceladas, to- 
man sobre si la satisfacion 6 pago 
de todas ellas hasta la cantidad 
de cinco milliones de pesos 
fuertes. El Sor. Presidente nom- 
brara con consentimiento y apro- 
bacion del Senado, una Comision 
compuesta de tres Comisionados, 
ciudadanos de losEstadosUnidos, 
para averiguar con certidumbre 
el importe total y justificacion 
de estas reclamaciones ; la qual 
se reunira en la ciudad de 
Washington, y en el espacio de 
tres aiios, desde su reunion pri- 
mera, recibira, examinara, y de 
cidira sobre el importe y justifi- 
cacion de todas las reclama- 
ciones arriba expresadas y 
descritas. Los dichos comisio- 
nados prestaran juramento, que 
se onatara en los quadernos de 
sus operaciones, para el desem- 
peno fiel y eficaz de sus deberes, 
y en caso de muerte, enferrae- 
dad 6 ausencia precisa de alguno 
de ellos, sera reemplazado del 
mismo modo, 6 por el Sor. 
Presidente de los Estados Unidos, 
en ausencia del Senado. Los 
dichos comisionados se hallaran 
autorizados para oir y examinar 
bcijo juramento qualquiera de- 
manda relativa a dichas reclama- 



APPENDIX. 



217 



sioners shall be authorized to 
hear and examine, on oath, eve- 
ry question relative to the said 
claims, and to receive all suita- 
ble authentic testimony concern- 
ing the same. And the Span- 
ish Government shall furnish 
all such documents and elu- 
cidations as may be in their 
possession, for the adjustment 
of the said claims, according to 
the principles of justice, the 
laws of nations, and the stipula- 
tions of the treaty between the 
two parties of 27th October, 
1795 ; the said documents to be 
specified when demanded at the 
instance of the said Commis- 
sioners. 

The payment of such claims 
as may be admitted and adjusted 
by the said Commissioners, or 
the major part of them, to an 
amount not exceeding five mil- 
lions of dollars, shall be made 
by the United States, either im- 
mediately at their Treasury, or 
by the creation of Stock bearing 
an interest of six per cent, per 
annum, payable from the pro- 
ceeds of sales of public lands 
within the territories hereby 
ceded to the United States, or 
in such other manner as the 
Congress of the United States 
may prescribe by law. 

The records of the proceed- 



ciones, y para recibir los testi- 
monies autenticos y convenien- 
tes relatives a ellas. £1 Go- 
bierno Espaiiol subministrara S, 
todos aquellos documentos y 
aclaraciones que esten en su 
poder para el ajuste de las ex- 
presadas reclamaciones, segun 
los principios de justicia, el 
derecho de gentes, y las estipu- 
laciones del tratado entre las dos 
partes de ^7 de Octobre de 
1795, cuyos documentos se es- 
pecificaran quando se pidan a 
instancia de dichos comisionados. 
Los Estados Unidos pagaran 
aqueljas reclamaciones que sean 
admitidas y ajustadas por los di- 
chos comisionados, 6 por la 
mayor parte de ellos, hasta la 
cantidad de cinco milliones de 
pesos fuertes, sea in mediata- 
mente en su Tesoreria, 6 por 
medio de uno creacion de fondos 
con el interds de un seis por 
ciento al aniii, pagaderos de los 
productos de las ventas de los 
terrenes valdios en los territo- 
ries aqui cedidos a los Estados 
Unidos, 6 de qualquiera otra 
manera que el Congreso de los 
Estados Unidos ordene por lev. 
Se depositaran, despues de 
concluidas sus transacciones, en 
el Departamento de Estado de 
los Estados Unidos, los quader- 
nos de las operaciones de los 



28 



218 



APPENDIX. 



ings of the said Commissioners, 
together with the vouchers and 
documents produced before 
them, relative to the claims to 
be adjusted and decided upon 
by them, shall, after the close 
of their transactions, be depo- 
sited in the Department of 
State of the United States ; and 
copies of them, or any part of 
them, shall be furnished to the 
Spanish Government, if requir- 
ed, at the demand of the Spanish 
Minister in the United States. 

Art. XII. The treaty of limits 
and navigation, of 1795, remains 
confirmed in all and each one 
of its articles, excepting the 2d, 
3d, 4th, 21st, and the second 
clause of the 22d article, which, 
having been altered by this 
treaty, or having received their 
entire execution, are no longer 
valid. 

With respect to the 16th ar- 
ticle of the same treaty of Friend- 
ship, Limits, and Navigation, of 
1795, in which it is stipulated, 
that the flag shall cover the pro- 
perty, the two high contracting 
parties agree that this shall be 
so understood with respect to 
those powers who recognize 
this principle ; but, if either of 
the two contracting parties shall 
be at war with a third party, 
and the other neutral, the flag 



dichos Comisionados, juntamente 
con los documentos que se le* 
presenten relativos §. las recla- 
maciones que deben ajustar y 
decidir ; y se entregaran copias 
de ellos 6 de parte de ellos al 
Gobierno Espanol, y a peticion 
de su Ministro en los Estados 
Unidos, si lo solicitase. 



Art. XII. El tratado de limites 
y navegacion de 1795, queda 
confirmado en totos y cada uno 
de sus articulos, excepto los ar- 
ticulos 2, 3, 4, 21, y la segunda 
clausula del 22, que habiendo 
sido alterados por esta tratado, 
6 cumplidos enteramente no 
pueden tener valor alguno. 

Con respecto al articulo 16 
del mismo tratado de amistad, 
limites y navegacion de 1796 en 
que se estipula, que la bandera 
cubre la propiedad, han con- 
venido las dos altas partes con- 
tratantes en que esto se entienda 
asi con respecto a aquellas po- 
tencias que reconozcan este 
principio ; pero que, si una de 
las dos partes contratantes estu- 
viere en guerracon unatercera, 
y la otra neutral, la bandera de 
esta neutral cubrira la proprie- 



APPENDIX. 



219 



of the neutral shall cover the 
property of enemies, whose go- 
vernment acknowledge this prin- 
ciple, and not- of others. 

Art. XIII. Both contracting 
parties, wishing to favour their 
mutual commerce, by affording 
in their ports every necessary 
assistance to their respective 
merchant vessels, have agreed, 
that the sailors who shall desert 
from their vessels in the ports 
of the other, shall be arrested 
and dehvered up, at the in- 
stance of the consul, who shall 
prove, nevertheless, that the 
deserters belonged to the ves- 
sels that claim them, exhibiting 
the document that is customary 
in their nation ; that is to say, 
the American consul in a Span- 
ish port, shall exhibit the docu- 
ment known by the name of Ar- 
ticles, and the Spanish consul in 
American ports, the Roll of the 
vessel ; and if the name of the 
deserter or deserters, who are 
claimed, shall appear in the one 
or the other, they shall be ar- 
rested, held in custody, and de- 
livered to the vessel to which 
they shall belong. 

Art. XIV. The United States 
hereby certify that they have 
not received any compensation, 
from France, for the injuries 
they suffered from her priva- 



dad de los enemigos, cuyo go- 
bierno reconozca este principio, 
y no de otros. 

Art. XIII. Deseando ambas 
potencias contratantes favorecer 
el comercio reciproco prestando 
cada una en sus puertos todoa 
los auxilios convenient^? a sus 
respectivos buques mercantes, 
han acordado en hacer prender 
y entregar los marineros que 
desierten de sus buques en los 
puertos de la otra, a instancia 
del Consul ; quien sin embargo 
debera probar que los deser- 
tores pertenecen a los buques 
que los reclaman, manifestando 
el documento de costumbre en 
su nacion ; esto es, que el con- 
sul Espanol en puerto Ameri- 
cano exhibira el Rol del buque, 
y el consul Americano en puerto 
Espanol, el documento conocido 
bajo el nombre de Articles ; y 
constando en uno u otro el nom- 
bre nombres del desertor 6 
deserlores que se reclaman, se 
procedera al arresto, custodia y 
entrega al buque a que corres- 
pondan. 

Art. XIV. Los Estados Uni- 
dos certifican por el presente 
que no han recibido compensa- 
cion alguna de la Francia por los 
perjuicios que sufrieron de sus 



220 



APPENDIX. 



teers, consuls, aad tribunals, on 
the coasts, and in the ports of 
Spain, for the satisfaction of 
which provision is made by this 
treaty ; and they will present 
an authentic statement of the 
prizes made, and of their true 
value, that Spain may avail her- 
self of ihe same, in such manner 
as she may deem just and proper. 
Art. XV. The United States, 
to give to his Catholic Majesty a 
proof of their desire to cement 
the relations of amity subsisting 
between the two nations, and to 
favour the commerce of the sub- 
jects of bis Catholic Majesty, 
agree that Spanish vessels, com- 
ing laden only with productions 
of Spanish growth or manufac- 
tures, directly from the ports of 
Spain, or of her colonies, shall 
be admitted, for the term of 
twelve years, to the ports of 
Pensacola and St. Augustine, in 
the Floridas, without paying 
other or higher duties on their 
cargoes, or of tonnage, than will 
be paid by the vessels of the 
United States. During the said 
term, no other nation shall en- 
joy the same privileges tvithin 
the ceded territories. The 
twelve years shall commence 
three months after the exchange 
of the ratifications of this treaty. 



corsarios, consules y tribunales 
en las costas y puertos de Es- 
pana para cuya satisfaccion se 
provee en este tratado, y pre- 
sentaran una relacion justificada 
de las presas hechas, y de su 
verdadero valor, para que la 
Espana pueda servirse de ella 
en la manera que mas juzgue 
justo y conveniente. 

Art. XV. Los Estados Unidos 
para dar a S. M. Cauna prueba 
de sus deseos de cimentar las 
reclamaciones de Amistad que 
existen entre las dos naciones, 
y de favorecer el Comercio de 
los subditos de S. M. Ca. con- 
vienen en que, los buques Es- 
panoles que vengan solo carga- 
dos de productos de sus frutos 6 
manufacturas directamente de 
los puertos de Espana 6 de sus 
colonias, sean admitidos por el 
espacio de doce aiios en los 
puertos de Panzacola y San Au- 
gustin de las Floridas, sin pagar 
mas derechos por sus cargamen- 
tos, ni major derecho de tone- 
lage, que el que paguen los 
buques de los Estados Unidos. 
Durante este tiempo ninguna 
nacion tendra derecho a los mis- 
mos privilegios en los territorios 
cedidos. Los doce anos empe- 
zaran a contarse tree meses des- 
pues de haberse cambiado las 
ratiiicaciones de este tratado. 



APPENDIX. 



221 



Art. XVI. The present treaty 
shall be ratified in due form, by 
the contracting parties, and the 
ratifications shall be exchanged 
in six Hionths from this time, or 
sooner, if possible. 

In witness whereof, we, the 
underwritten Plenipotentiaries 
of the United States of America, 
and of his Catholic Majesty, have 
signed, by virtue of our powers, 
the present Treaty of Amity, 
Settlement, and Limits, and have 
thereunto affixed our seals re- 
spectively. 

Done at Washington, this 
twenty-second day of February, 
one thousand eight hundred and 
nineteen. 

[Seal.] John QuiNCY Adams. 

[Seal.] Luis de Onis. 



Art. XVL El presente tra- 
tado sera ratificado en debida 
forma per las partes contratan- 
tesj y las ratificaciones se can- 
gearan en el espacio de seis 
meses desde esta fecha ; 6 mas 
pronto si es posible. 

En fe de lo qual nosotros los 
Infrascritos Plenipotenciaros de 
S. M. Ca., y de los Estados 
Unidos de America, hemes fir- 
mado en virtud de nuestros Po- 
deres, el presente Tratado de 
Amistad, Arreglo de diferencias 
y Limites, y le hemos puesto 
nuestros sellos respectivos. 

Hecho en Washington, a veinte 
y dos de Febrero de mil ocho- 
cientos diez y nueve. 

[Seal.] Luis de Onis, 

[Seal.] John QuiNcy Adams. 



And whereas his said Catholic Majesty did, on the twenty- 
fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and twenty, ratify and confirm the said treaty, 
which ratifi-cation is in the words and of the tenor following : 



(translation.) 
Ferdinand the Seventh, by the 
grace of God, and by the con- 
stitution of the Spanish mo- 
narchy, king of the Spains. 



(original.) 

'Dn. Fernando Septimo por la 

gracia de Dios, y por la Con- 

stitucion de la Monarquia Es- 

panola, Rey de las EspaFias. 



Whereas, on the twenty- Por cuanto en el dia veinte y 

second day of February, of the dos de Febrero del aiio proxi- 

year one thousand eight hundred mo pasado de mil ochocientos 

and nineteen last past, a treaty diez y nueve, se concluyo y 



222 



APPENDIX. 



was concluded and signed in the 
city of Washington, between 
Don Luis de Onis, my Envoy Ex- 
traordinary and MinisterPlenipo- 
tentiary,and JohnQ,uincyAdams, 
Esquire, Secretary of State of 
the United States of America, 
competently authorized by both 
parties, consisting of sixteen ar- 
ticles, which had for their ob- 
ject the arrangement of differen- 
ces, and of limits between both 
governments and their respec- 
tive territories ; which are of 
the following form and literal 
tenor." 



firmo en la Ciudad de Washing- 
ton entre Dn. Luis de Onis, mi 
Enviado Extraordinario y Minis- 
tro Plenipotenciario, y Dn. Juan 
Quincy Adams, Secretario de Es- 
tado de los Estados Unidos de 
America, autorizados compe- 
tentemente por ambas partes, 
un tratado compuesto de diez y 
seis articulos, que tiene por ob- 
jeto el arreglo de diferiencias y 
de limites entre ambos Gobier- 
nos y sus respectivos territories ; 
cuya forme y tenor literal es el 
sisuiente." 



[Here follows the above Treaty word for word.J 



Therefore, having seen and 
examined the sixteen articles 
aforesaid, and having first ob- 
tained the consent and authority 
of the General Cortes of the na- 
tion with respect to the cession 
mentioned and stipulated in the 
2d and 3d articles, I approve 
and ratify all and every one of 
the articles referred to, and the 
clauses which are contained in 
them ; and, in virtue of these 
presents, 1 approve and ratify 
them ; promising, on the fiiith 
and word of a King, to execute 
and observe them, and cause 
them to be executed and ob- 
served entirely as if I myself 



" Por tanto, haviendo visto y 
examinado los referidos diez y 
seis articulos, y habiendo prece- 
dido la anuencia y autorizacion 
de las Cortes Generales de la 
Nacion por lo respective a la 
cesion que en los articulos 2° y 
3° se menciona y estipula, he 
venido en aprobar y ratificar 
todos y cada uno de los referi- 
dos articulos ^ clausulas que ea I 
ellos se contiene ; y en virtud 
de la presente los apruebo y 
ratifico ; prometiendo en fe y 
palabra de Rey cumplirlos y ob- 
servarlos, y hacer que se cum- 
plan y observan enteramente 
como si Yo mismo los hubiese 



APPENDIX. 



223 



had signed them : and that the 
circumstance of having exceed- 
ed the term of six months, fixed 
for the exchange of the ratifi- 
cations in the 16th article, may 
afford no obstacle in any man- 
ner, it is my deliberate will that 
the present ratification be as 
valid and firm, and produce the 
same effects, as if it had been 
done within the determined pe- 
riod. Desirous at the same time 
of avoiding any doubt or ambi- 
guity concerning the meaning of 
the 8th article of the said treaty, 
in respect to the date which is 
pointed out in it as the period 
for the confirmation of the grants 
of lands in the Floridas, made 
by me, or by the competent 
authorities in my royal name, 
which point of date was fixed 
in the positive understanding of 
the three grants of land made 
in favour of the Duke of Alagon, 
the Count of Punonrostro, and 
Don Pedro de Vargas, being an- 
nulled by its tenor, I think 
proper to declare that the said 
.three grants have remained and 
do remain entirely annulled and 
invalid ; and that neither the 
three individuals mentioned, nor 
those who may have title or in- 
terest through them, can avail 
themselves of the said grants at 
any time, or in any manner : 



firmado : sin que sirva de ob- 
staculo en manera alguna la cir- 
cumstancia de haber transcurri- 
do el termino de los seis meses 
prefijados para el cange de las 
ratificaciones en el articulo 16 ; 
pues mi deliberada voluntad es 
que la presente ratificacion sea 
tan valida y subsistente y pro- 
duzca los mismos efectos que si 
huviese sido hecha dentro del 
termino prefijado. Yo deseando 
al mismo tiempo evitar qual- 
quiera duda 6 arabiguedad que 
paeda ofrecer el contenido del 
articulo 8^. del referido tratado 
con motivo de la fecha que en 
el se senala como termino para 
la validacion de las concesiones 
de tierras en las Floridas, hechas 
por mi 6 por las autoridades 
competentes en mi real nombre, 
a cuyo senalamiento de fecha se 
procedio en la positiva inteli- 
gencia de dejar anuladas por su 
tenor las tres concesiones de 
tierras hechas a favor del Duque 
de Alagon, Conde de Puiionros- 
tro, y Dn. Pedro de Vargas ; 
tengo a bien declarar que las 
referidas tres concesiones han 
quedado y quedan enteramente 
anuladas e invalidadas ; sin que 
los tres individuos referidos, ni 
los que de estos tengan titulo 6 
causa, puedan aprovecharse de 
dichas concesiones en tiempo nj 



224 APPENDIX. 

under whieh explicit declaration manera alguna : bajo cuya ex- 

the said 8th article is to be un- plicita declaracion se ha de en~ 

derstoodas ratified. In the faith tender ratificadu el referido ar- 

of all which I have commanded ticulo 8°. En f^ de todo lo cual 

to despatch these presents, mande despachar la presente 

Signed by my hand, sealed with firmada de mi mano, sellada con 

my secret seal, and countersign- mi sello secrete, y refrendada 

ed by the underwritten my Se- por el infrascripto mi Secretario 

cretary of Despatch of State. del Despacho de Estado, Dada 

Given at Madrid, the twenty- en Madrid a veinte y quatro de 

fourth of October, one thousand Octobre de mil ochocientos 

eight hundred and twenty. veinte. 

(Signed,) Fernando. [Sign.] Fernando. 

(Countersigned,) [Refren.] 

Evaristo Perez de Castro.'''' Evaristo Perez de Castro.''^ 

And whereas the Senate of the United States did, on the 
nineteenth day of the present month, advise and consent to 
the ratification, on the part of these United States, of the 
said treaty, in the following words : 

" In Senate of the United States, 

''February 19th, 1821. 

" Resolved, Troo-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
therein, That the Senate having examined the Treaty of 
Amity, Settlement, and Limits, between the United States of 
America and his Catholic Majesty, made and concluded on 
the twenty-second of February, one thousand eight hundred 
and nineteen, and seen and considered the ratification 
thereof, made by his said Catholic Majesty on the thirty- 
fourth day of October, one thousand eight hundred 
and twenty, do consent to, and advise the President of the 
United States to ratify the same." 

And whereas, in pursuance of the said advice and consent 
of the Senate of the United States, I have ratified and con- 
firmed the said treaty, in the words following, viz : 



APPENDIX. 225 

Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United 
States of America, having seen and considered the treaty 
above recited, together with the ratification of his CathoHc 
Majesty thereof, do, in pursuance of the aforesaid advice and 
consent of the Senate of the United States, by these pre- 
sents, accept, ratify and confirm the said treaty, and every 
clause and article thereof, as the same are herein before set 
forth. 

In faith whereof, I have caused the seal of the United 
States of America to be hereto affixed. 

Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, this 
twenty-second day of February, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and 
of the Independence of the said States the forty-fifth. 

JAMES MONROE. 
By the President : 

John Quincy Adams, 

Secretary of State. 

And whereas the said ratifications, on the part of the 
United States, and of his Catholic Majesty, have been this 
day duly exchanged, at Washington, by John Quincy Adams, 
Secretary of State of the United States, and by General Don 
Francisco Dionisio Vives, Envoy Extraordinary and Minis- 
ter Plenipotentiary of his Catholic Majesty : Now, therefore, 
to the end that the said treaty may oe observed and perform- 
ed with good faith, on the part of the United States, I have 
caused the premises to be made public; and I do hereby en- 
join and require all persons bearing office, civil or military, 
within the United States, and all others, citizens or inhabi- 
tants thereof, or being within the same, faithfully to observe 
and fulfil the said treaty, and every clause and article thereof. 

29 



226 APPENDIX. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United 
States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same 
with tny hand. 

Done at the City of Washington, the twenty-second 

day of February, in the year of our Lord one 

[l. s.] thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and 

of the Sovereignty and Independence of the 

United States the forty-fifth. 

JAMES MONROE. 
By the President : 

John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State. 



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